No Longer Strangers
by bauerfreak
Summary: AU Snickers: Sequel to Stranger.  Riley is about to turn sixteen, and there is drama on the horizon.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I'm back with the sequel! Thanks to all those who asked about it. Nolan's not really in this chapter – he didn't fit into the flow, but I'm not ignoring him. Haha. Please enjoy and review.

Nick Stokes stood in the waiting area of McCarran Airport like he had over two years ago, when he'd first waited for his oldest daughter to work her way through the crowds and into his life. The scene was similar – wary travelers shuffling by, trying to go about their ways. Some lived here, some were just passing through, and yet more were here to play the slots and try their luck in sin city.

This time was different, however, and much less nerve-wrecking. Soon to be sixteen year old Riley had traveled back to Tucson for her spring break to go visit her maternal grandparents, her best friend Allison, and droves of others from what he had heard. She had been so excited to get the invitation from her grandmother back in January. She'd begged him to let her go, and how could he say no? How could he say no to letting her visit the only people she'd known the first thirteen years of her life? Nick recalled with a warm smile how she'd hugged him so tight and screeched into his ear thankfully when he handed her the plane ticket. He had been her hero – like he'd missed out on so many times with her as a young child.

But now he, Sara, Carly, and Nolan were her world, and she loved it. He got to be her hero, but also her worst enemy when she acted up. Being her father was the most rewarding, stressful, wonderful thing he'd experienced in his life, along with being a daddy to Carly and Nolan. And Sara was just as amazing as ever. Once they'd gotten over their rough patch of the first few months of Riley living with them, they'd begun to all really bond. It built character for them all, to accept this teenager into their lives. Nick had sure learned a lot, and had learned about things he never though possible, like how downright exciting it could be to blend two types of nail polish to make a new one, the difference between myspace and facebook, and the taste of Jolt soda. Mindless, but priceless things like that were important to Riley, so they were semi-important to him. It was fun to have a teenager in the house. They were certainly strange creatures, but Nick sure loved his teen. He wanted to kill her sometimes, of course, but he couldn't imagine his life without her now. The last week had driven him nuts, wondering what she was up to and who she was with. How would he ever handle sending her to college?

Finally, he caught a glimpse of a brunette head, the hair pulled back in a messy bun as the eyes attached to it studied her cell phone closely, checking for missed messages while she had been on the plane. She was in a world of her own, as other travelers had to step around that slow moving daughter of his. No one could rush her, he'd learned. He observed that she sent a text message by the way her thumbs were moving hastily, and the grin on her face. It just better not be a boy. Riley finally snapped her phone shut and surveyed the space around her. Within moments, her eyes fell on the familiar, reassuring sight of her father.

She picked up her pace a little, a grin plastered on her face, and within moments she had crashed into his arms.

"Daddy!!" She exclaimed as he rocked her back and forth. Nick beamed from ear to ear as he hugged her tightly. He could never tire of hearing her use that word. Especially when it was sometimes replaced with _asshole_ or _jerk_. Soon after she'd confessed to him what her stepfather had done to her, she'd asked permission to call him Dad, and Nick of course agreed. Every time she called him Dad, even now after two years, it felt like a gift to hear.

"Hey, sweetheart." He greeted her back, kissing her cheek. Nick pulled back to look at her, not believing how much she'd changed in the two short years he'd known her. "I missed you so much."

"I missed you too." She smiled back at him. There were days when Nick never thought she'd smile at him again, but she still loved him. The fifteen year old then held out her wrist to him. "Look what grandma gave me!"

Nick touched her arm gently as he examined the new bracelet she'd received while in Tucson. "That's beautiful." He complimented her. "You're much prettier though." Nick told her, knowing it would earn him an eye roll. Predictably, she did and gave him a bit of a push so they could start walking towards baggage claim.

"Daaaad, please." She grumbled as they walked. Her cell phone sounded a few moments later, letting out her text message cue, singing _ahh, derka, derka, derka_. Nick laughed out loud and looked at Riley as she flipped her cell phone open, smiling.

"What the hell was that sound?"

"It's from Team America." She explained as she checked her new message, causing her to laugh herself. It was Allison, checking in on her.

"And when did you see that, young lady?" He teased in a mock-stern voice. Nick was still quite overprotective, especially since she'd gotten her learner's permit. He tried to shield her from vulgar movies, but alas, some things you just couldn't win. She'd be in college in three short years, and there's nothing he could do to stop her from watching these types of movies. Heck, in almost a year she'd be seventeen and able to get into R rated movies by herself. The little girl he'd never got to bring up was fast becoming a young woman.

"At Allison's." She smiled, typing a quick response.

"Hmmm. I see." They stepped onto an escalator to take them downstairs to the baggage claim. "And who's that you're talking to?"

"Allison." She said simply. It was amazing to Nick who involved in conversation they could be, but as soon as that phone went off, he took a back seat. He guessed it was part of being a father to a teenage girl.

Riley slapped it shut again, and tucked it into her back pocket, smiling up at her father again. She hugged him again. It was nice to get away for a week, but she wasn't ashamed to admit that she had missed him.

"I'm so glad you're back." Nick admitted, and then kissed her head. He patted her back as they reached the bottom of the escalator and stepped off.

"Me too. I kind of missed all the lights." She explained as they walked. "Did Carly get any home runs while I was gone?"

Nick smiled at the thought of his middle child. The seven year old had joined a softball team and absolutely loved it, but she was awful, he had to admit. She was a bit too much of a girly girl for it, and she'd only joined because two of her best friends did. It was adorable to watch her try, though. She refused to slide onto bases, because she didn't want to get dirty. Well, he still had hope with Nolan, anyway.

"Not quite." He smiled at her. "That might require a bit too much sweating for her liking."

Riley laughed. Her little sister was hilarious, and so sweet. She had really taken to her role as big sister in the last couple years. Not always setting a good example, but always nice. Nolan, who was now three, also adored both his older sisters. Riley was almost as much fun to play with as his daddy, and much sillier. Sometimes she even took him to the park to play.

Soon, they had picked up Riley's suitcase and Nick lugged it out to the Denali. He grunted a little as he lifted it up into the trunk. She had to have options, she'd told him, when he questioned her on why she was taking so much stuff.

"Do I get to drive?" Riley asked him excitedly as he closed the trunk. Nick sighed at her as he fumbled with the keys, finding the one that turned the ignition. He held them out for her to take, and she quickly snatched them up, making a theatrical, possessed noise. Nick cleared his throat as he watched her hop to the driver's side.

Nick climbed into the passenger's seat, which was becoming more and more familiar these days as Riley drove more and more. He'd never forget her first driving lesson he'd given her. He was normally so laid back, but he was as tense as he ever could remember. Nick didn't let her out of the abandoned parking lot where he'd taken her, though she begged him to. Now that he thought about it, she'd done a really good job, but he couldn't help but be frightened for his life driving with a creature that liked eating ranch dressing and sour cream on everything, and sprayed Easy Cheese directly into her mouth.

"Mental checklist." Nick reminded her, sitting in the passenger list, waiting for her to do their routine of safety checks. Riley rolled her eyes and smiled, but began. First, she adjusted the seat to her desired position, adjusted the rearview mirror, and checked the sideview.

"Seatbelt, please." She reminded her father. Nick always waited for her to remind him, which she never forgot to do. The fifteen year old clicked hers into place before turning around to make sure nothing was obstructing her view out the back window.

"I'm not getting out to check the tire pressure, or if anything's behind the wheels. If you think you're man enough to do it yourself, go ahead." She told him in jest. Riley and Nick had gotten to a very comfortable point in their relationship where they could joke around with each other, be silly, and sometimes take the piss out of each other. (A/N: I have a feeling that's a British phrase I can't get out of my vocabulary – it means basically make fun of; piss sounds better though I think)

"Everything looked fine to me. Good job." Nick praised her, rubbing his fingers under his chin in amusement. He really did get a kick out of his daughter sometimes. Riley had a good sense of humor, but it was that same sassiness that could sometimes get her in trouble.

Riley put the keys in the ignition and immediately reached for the radio dial. A little Brad Paisley predictably played over the radio, and Riley gave her father a disapproving look as she changed it to a top 40 station.

"Dad, Dad, Dad. You just never learn do you?" She sassed, shaking her head at him.

"Put a cork in it." Nick told her bluntly but still, of course, with humor. "I'll turn it off if I have to. And if that _derka_ sound goes off, you better not try to answer it, or I'll rip up your permit myself."

Riley put the SUV in reverse and looked over her shoulder. "It's laminated, dork."

"Scissors!" Nick raised his voice slightly. "Imagine your precious permit cut into dozens of tiny pieces."

Riley kept her eyes on the ground of the parking garage as she shook her head. "I can't believe I'm related to you sometimes."

CSI CSI CSI CSI CSI

About half an hour later, Riley pulled into the Stokes family driveway, under a now darkened, starry sky. She had only given Nick one heart attack, when she almost pulled out on someone in her blind spot, but she'd recovered well. They walked towards the door, and Riley tossed him back the keys.

"Do you need to go change your pants?" She asked him, smirking.

"No, darlin'. But thanks so much for your concern." He answered as she reached the garage door that led to the dining room, and opened it.

"Riley!!" She was immediately bombarded by her two younger siblings, both elated to see her. They never wanted her to leave for an entire week ever again. How did they ever get through the boredom of everyday life without Riley to entertain them?

Nick smiled in appreciation of their relationship as Riley knelt down to hug them both. Carly and Nolan simply adored her, and she liked them as long as they weren't embarrassing her in front of her friends (which had happened of course). Being the youngest of seven, Nick knew how important it was to have good older siblings, and his two had a great one in Riley. Well, most of the time anyway.

"Look, Riley! I lost a tooth!" Carly pointed to the space between two of her top teeth proudly. Riley gasped theatrically and took her time to examine the amazing gape.

"That's amazing." Riley told her in a sincere voice that she seemed to be an expert on faking. Though it was really sweet that she did that on a regular basis to please Carly. "Did the tooth fairy come?"

Carly nodded. "Yeah! She gave me two dollars, and Mommy said she thought the tooth fairy went a little overboard."

The teenager laughed at that, knowing her father could go a little over the top with that sort of thing sometimes. He just liked to see Carly smile.

"Hmmm, I think she's spoiling the right person." Riley ruffled her hair.

"Yeah, Mommy made me put it in my piggy bank." She reported, her annoyance evident in her voice. Carly looked over at her mother with a bit of an evil eye as she walked into the room, having heard the commotion.

"Carly Nicole, is there something wrong with your eyes?" Nick immediately called her on the evil glare she was shooting at her mother.

Carly looked at her father, pursing and twisting her lips. "No, sir." She answered her softly. He nodded at her as Riley stood and ruffled her hair as she rushed over to her stepmother.

"Sara!" The two exchanged a warm embrace, and Nick thought it could compare to one given by some sorority sisters after a long, lonely summer break. Sara and Riley's relationship had blossomed, and they had more of an aunt/niece relationship. She loved Sara and valued her, though they didn't always see eye to eye. However, they were always quick to make up. Riley knew where she stood with her stepmother – she knew both Sara and Nick expected Riley to respect and listen to her. And if she ever forgot, which she sometimes did, Nick was always there to give her a little reminder.

They pulled back moments later, smiles on both their faces. It was strange – sometimes Nick thought that Riley looked an awfully lot like Sara. Maybe after living together for a couple years, they kind of picked up habits and nuances from each other.

"How was your trip?" Sara asked her eagerly, wanting to hear all about it. Riley had spoken of nothing more for months. Her heart had been set on it before Nick had even said yes.

"It was so great!" Riley started as they both walked over to the couch to sit down and talk. "I got to see all my friends from middle school, and my grandma, and my aunt and uncle."

Riley and Sara talked excitedly for over a half an hour, as she shared seemingly every moment of her trip – everything from a trip to an ice cream stand where she saw her old crush, to movies, to gossiping with the girls. Sara could tell that her stepdaughter had loved her visit, and that she did miss her old life. It sounded like she had some great friends and family in her life, except of course her mother and stepfather in particular.

As the conversation was winding down, and both were thinking of heading off to bed, Riley's text alert sounded, causing Sara to also giggle and inquire its meaning. Riley just loved that sound byte.

"Can I go over to Kelly's house?" Riley kept her eyes on the text message as she waited for what would hopefully be an affirmative answer. Sara looked at her watch. It was already nine thirty, and though it was a Saturday, Riley had had a long week, and she had a ton of homework to do tomorrow. Knowing Riley and her friends, they'd be up giggling until four a.m., and she didn't have time to catch up on sleep before school on Monday.

"I don't know, Ry. I don't think that's such a good idea." Sara told her honestly, letting out a yawn.

"Why not?" Riley whined a little bit, but not in an annoying way. Most of the time, she wanted an explanation for a 'no' answer. "It's Saturday night."

Sara yawned again as she picked up an empty glass from the coffee table and stood. "Yeah, but you've got tons of homework, and you'll sleep in 'til noon at Kelly's house."

"Well, it's not gonna take me twelve hours to do homework. Only a grueling three or four." She pointed out.

Sara gave her a look as she stretched her arms a bit. "Riley. You know what I mean. You'll be lazy all day, and then you won't be able to get to sleep until after midnight, and you won't be awake enough for school."

"But, Sara…"

"Riley, don't argue please." Nick's voice interrupted her complaining. It had been a half-hearted attempt and Sara wasn't always as firm sometimes in saying no. She wouldn't have back down, but it sounded like she was still going to be getting a lot of grief from their fifteen year old.

Sara walked to the kitchen with the glass and raised her eyebrows, smiling as she passed Nick. They'd tried to get her to join the debate team, but she wasn't having it.

Riley put on a pained face and looked up at her father as he walked over to her, like she was most wronged person in the world because she couldn't go to a sleepover.

"You know that look doesn't work with me." Nick reminded her, putting his hands on his hips.

Riley dropped it, but returned to her argument. "But Daddy, it's Saturday! Everyone's out doing stuff. Do you want me to be a loser?" She tried to guilt-trip him, though she knew it wouldn't work.

"No, I want you to get good grades and enough rest for school on Monday. Do I need to remind you I just paid quite a bit of money for that plane ticket of yours?"

Riley sighed, looking defeated.

"You've had plenty of fun this last week. And Monday's a busy day. You have your session with Dr. Allman too after school." He reminded her of her busy schedule, as if she could forget. Riley grumbled at the thought of her therapist. Nick and Sara had started sending her right after they'd found out about what her stepfather did to her. Two friggin' years of therapy, and talking about feelings, and having to recall things she liked to bury in the back of her mind. Unpleasant. And on top of that, it was always on Mondays and Wednesdays. Like she needed another reason to dread the school week.

"I don't like Dr. Allman."

Nick took her hands and pulled her to her feet to get her moving. "You said that about your last therapist." He reminded her. It wasn't the doctor she had, it was the fact that it was therapy. However, Nick knew it was helping her, though she'd never admit it. He'd seen quite an improvement in her since she was thirteen. She was still a bit in-your-face sometimes, but much calmer and able to solve her problems without cussing, screaming, and being generally impossible.

"Then I think it's time we said 'au revoir' to therapists, Dad. Obviously, it's just not meant to be." She retorted.

Nick took her shoulders and turned her around so they were both facing forward. He then began walking towards her bedroom, in turn forcing her to do the same.

"Nice try."

Riley grumbled and moaned theatrically as he escorted her to her bedroom. When he reached her door he stopped her and gave her a kiss on the head.

"Goodnight, Ry. I love you." He told her as he opened her bedroom door for her. Riley gave him a pathetic look but complied. She mumbled good night to him also and traipsed slowly towards her bed, like her feet were filled with lead. Nick shook his head and had to smile before he closed the door. If you didn't know her tricks, Riley could sure fool you. It happened every year with at least one teacher.

Nick climbed the stairs to go help Sara put the younger two to bed also, and soon they were snuggled beneath the pale blue comforter, gazing into each other's eyes.

"It was so weird not having her here." Nick murmured to his wife as his hand found its resting place on her hip. Sara nodded in agreement, thinking about how quiet it had been without her. Even now, they could hear music playing softly in her room, and the sounds of her moving about.

"Well, she always makes sure you're aware when she's around." Sara smiled, hearing the teen's door open, then close, then the bathroom door creaking.

"Yes she does." Nick smiled and rubbed at her hip as he scooched in a little closer so he could kiss her with ease. After a few sweet, tender locking of their lips, Nick pulled back and stroked her hair. "I'm wondering if we're putting too much pressure on her though, you know?"

Sara studied his face. "Why's that, baby?"

"Well, she's taking two AP classes as a sophomore, and they want to load her up more next year. And then with her therapist – she doesn't seem to like her that much. And now her school counselor wants her to start taking her SAT this year."

Sara nodded in understanding. "Well, from what I've seen, two advanced courses is definitely not too much for her to handle. I mean, she gets lots of homework, but that probably keeps her out of trouble. She hates all therapists, and taking the SAT this year would at least be good practice."

Nick smirked at her answer. That sounded like Riley to a T. She liked to moan and complain about hard work, but he suspected that she secretly liked it. She must – Riley was getting close to straight A's. If she really wanted out of those AP classes, she knew she could just tell him, or gets lots of bad grades to get her kicked out. But she worked at it. Riley worked her little tail off when she wanted to, and she got good grades for it.

"That's true. You're right." He acknowledged, clearing his throat a little at the way she seemed to trivialize all his worries, in a good way. She eased his tireless mind, and was usually the reasonable one when he wanted to just let insanity take over his brain. When Riley came home after curfew, or talked back, her hand on his shoulder reminded him to calm down, and take things with a grain of salt. She didn't really have to do that at work, minus a few cases, because it was his personal life and family that got him passionate and worked up sometimes.

Sara leaned in and kissed her husband. "Of course I'm right."

Nick laughed, and soon they were tumbling in the sheets, all their worries fleeting away like a bird soaring towards the sunset.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I had a mucho busy week last week so I didn't get to work on this. My mom is visiting this Wednesday for a week, so hopefully I'll get another update in before that! I figured out that I messed up a bit with the girls' ages and grades because I gave Riley a spring birthday. If you work it out, Riley was already thirteen when she came to live with the Stokes in October, and if she was born in the spring, she would be fourteen at the end of the school year, landing her in eighth grade instead of seventh in "Stranger". So…we can just ignore that, or pretend she was in eighth grade all along. Oopsy!

"Daddy, when do I get ta go to school?" Three year old Nolan asked from his booster seat in the back of the Denali as his father drove towards the elementary school to pick up Carly.

Nick's eyes twinkled as he looked in the rearview mirror at his son. Carly talked all the time about what she did at school, and how much she loved her teachers. No wonder her little brother was so eager to start school when she was so excited about it. Carly liked to play school with her little brother, and would pretend to be his teacher, showing him all kinds of things at the Little Tyke table in the living room. It was adorable to watch, because Carly would say things she'd obviously heard from the teacher, like _Now is that a good choice?_ Or _What will you do next time?_ The seven year old was quite the educator.

"Well, you'll get to start preschool in the fall, and then when you're five you get to start kindergarten." He explained to his young son, pausing at a stop sign.

Nolan looked out the window, but his little mind was hard at work. The prospect of school was so enthralling to him.

"How long 'til I'm five, Daddy?" He asked hopefully.

"About two years, bud." Nick smirked as he adjusted the air conditioning. Nolan didn't really have much sense of time at the tender age of three. He had trouble comprehending next week, let alone two years. The little boy was definitely a thinker, though. Members of the family would catch him just staring off into space, or out the window, and knew he was deep in three year old thought about something. He was very intelligent, and Nick just knew he would love school like Carly did.

Making one last right turn, Nick pulled up to the Foothills Montessori School where Carly was finishing off second grade. She had fallen in love with every teacher she'd had, and all her teachers seemed to enjoy her. At parent/teacher conferences, they always spoke of how cheery and talkative Carly was, but was always well-behaved, apart from rare slip-ups like the middle finger incident in kindergarten. She was a joyful, easy child to raise for the most part, and Nick loved her to pieces.

When she saw his car, Carly bounded over to the teacher on duty, her ponytail bouncing. Nick smirked as he unlocked the door so she could get in. She waved bye to her teacher and her friends as the door was closed.

"Hi, darlin'." Nick turned to look at her as she pulled her seatbelt across her chest and snapped it into place. "How was your day?"

"Hi Daddy. I had a pleasant day." She told him, causing Nick to bite his lip to keep from laughing. He guessed that was one of her new vocabulary words for the week. It always caught him off guard to hear her say such sophisticated words, especially when she periodically announced crude things like she had farted. One time when she'd had a nightmare, she crawled into bed with her parents and confessed that she'd had a petrifying dream. Nick had started laughing, which in turn cheered the second grader up and got her smiling again.

"It was pleasant, huh?" He looked in the side view mirror to pull out of the car loop carefully. Her teacher, Miss Kleinfelt, had urged Nick and Sara at conferences to have discussions with her using the weekly vocabulary words, so Nick decided to expand on it. "And what was pleasant about it?"

Carly thought for a few moments. "Hmmm. Well I answered a really hard question right, and I got to sit with Megan at lunch, and the teacher gave us back all our work from before vacation and I got lots of O's!"

She was very proud of all the 'Outstanding' marks she got on her paper, and was always eager to share that with her parents, brother and sister. Even Riley, who she knew was smart, because her daddy said she had a smart mouth, didn't get O's. She only got A's, which surely wasn't as good as O's.

"Really? That's great. You'll have to show me when we get home." Nick praised her as he drove towards the high school. Riley was hoping that in a few short months, she wouldn't have to be picked up from school anymore because she'd have her own car. Nick and Sara hadn't made her any promises. Money was tight with three children, and one college-bound in the next few years. If Nick had any extra money to splurge, he would probably try to send Riley to Butterfield Academy instead to get a better education. Riley had expressed some interest in it, but never really took it seriously. She knew Butterfield was hard-ass and very strict, which she wasn't sure she could put up with. It was always just an idea, because Nick knew they'd never have the money to send her there.

Carly filled him in some more about her day as they waited in the pick-up circle at Ed W. Clark High School. A few minutes later, Riley emerged from the doors, looking quite tired from her first day back after a whole week off. Her backpack looked loaded as usual, which made Nick a bit happy. It meant she was getting challenged and out of the serious trouble he feared his daughter would get in if she didn't have that. When Riley got bored, she tended to do some stupid things. Last summer, she and some friends had silly stringed the principal's car to protest a recent decision to ban off-campus lunch. Nick was not pleased to say the least, and now dreaded the upcoming summer break that was looming just ahead.

Riley sighed as she got into the front seat of the Denali, and Nick could tell she was exhausted. It had been a battle to get her to do her homework yesterday, and he feared it would be even worse today. Riley wouldn't care if it was only and hour or so of work to do, but her workload sometimes seemed insurmountable at an average time of three to four hours. The teenager had a hard time getting motivated to get started sometimes, especially after a relaxing break.

"Hi, baby." Nick told her as she yawned and buckled her seatbelt. He noticed she had apparently painted her fingernails during the day a hideous fuchsia color instead of paying attention in class.

"Hi." She told him mid-yawn, and then rubbed at her face tiredly.

Nick smirked and looked over at her. "Rough day?"

"My teachers are Nazis." She explained as he pulled out into the traffic. "They didn't even let up over Spring Break. And did you know I'm gonna have summer reading assignments AGAIN?"

Of course Nick knew. It was all in the parental information he'd received when Riley first enrolled in Advanced Placement classes. Her English class read a novel a month, and at least three over the summer.

"My, my, my, how you are wronged so, Riley Michelle." Nick teased her as he drove, shaking his head.

"I know." She told him, resting her head in her hand against the door's window. "They think we have no lives! I mean, I can't wait until I'm an adult like you, and not have to worry about doing anything when I get home at night." Riley went on naively.

Nick shook his head and pressed his lips together for a moment as he thought about her statement. "Mmmhmmm. Yeah, I don't have to worry about anything when I get home, except making sure two girls do their homework, my three year old doesn't burn the house down, yardwork, bills, laundry, cleaning, finances. Yep, I just relax."

Riley looked at her father sheepishly and smiled. "You know what I mean. When you're done at work, you're done. I have to think about algebra, and history and all that…nonsense, for three more hours, at minimum."

Nick nodded and sighed, and decided not to get into the fact that he took his work home every evening in his mind. Pictures of injured or murdered children passed through his mind every time he looked at his own kids each night. He watched them sleep at night, and prayed that nothing like that would ever happen to them, but knowing the world could be an unforgiving place. No, Riley didn't need to hear about that. Let her be innocent for a few more years, or enjoy what innocence she had after what her stepfather had done to her.

"It's hard work, babe, but you do a good job." He told her simply as he looked straight ahead.

"Thanks, Daddy." She told him, and then immediately changed the subject. "So I was thinking more about my sweet sixteen party at school." Riley began.

Nick let out an audible groan. He'd enjoyed not hearing about her hopes for her sweet sixteen party while she'd been away, but he realized it was back and even worse now that her birthday was only about a month away. Riley observed this and glared.

"Dad, stop being so dramatic. You haven't even heard what I was about to say." She told him, smiling. All her friends had had amazing parties during the year, and so she was full of ideas, being one of the youngest kids in her class. She would turn sixteen on April 12th, one of the last birthdays of the year in her class. However, her friends' parents had a lot more money than the Stokes, so they could afford to rent hotel conference rooms for their daughter, buy lavish cakes, and purchase new cars. Nick didn't want Riley getting her hopes up and be disappointed.

"If it involves you arriving at the party on a horse, it's a no." He told her, wishing he was kidding, but alas, one of her friends had arrived in just that fashion at her party back in October.

"Howsey!!" Nolan exclaimed from his car seat, hoping he'd get to ride one.

"I'm not that bad, Daddy." She told him. "But can I have a DJ please? We'll have to book him soon if I want one, because they're gonna get busy with weddings. Callie knows a really great one."

"Baby, we agreed to rent the room at the Holiday Inn for one night, and Greg said he could cover the music for free." Nick pointed out. He wanted to give his daughter a party, but didn't believe in over-the-top celebrations like the ones Riley watched on MTV's "My Super Sweet Sixteen". Nick Stokes was not going to raise a spoiled brat.

"But Daddy, he doesn't have all the right equipment. It won't sound right." She reasoned with him, looking distressed as she watched her father's face for any hint of him giving in. He didn't show any sign.

"Riley, I don't have gobs of money like your friends do." He reminded his teenager. "I think I'm being very generous and reasonable letting you have it at the Holiday Inn."

Teenagers' social webs were a bit of a mystery to Nick, so he didn't understand why this was such a big deal to her. She wanted all the right people to come, and they wouldn't if they didn't know it was going to be "off the chain" as Riley had put it once. When he was a teenager, all the girls would just throw little parties at their homes, and their mothers would bake them cakes and hang out, but apparently things had changed.

Riley grumbled a bit and shot her father a glare, but didn't say anything.

"Hey, I can cancel if that's how your attitude's gonna be." He threatened, raising his eyebrows and glancing at her. Riley just moved her body to face towards the window, as she stared off at the passing houses of their neighborhood. They lived in a nice house, in a nice side of town – why couldn't her father just splurge on her a little? She was only going to turn sixteen once!

Nick sighed as they pulled into the garage of their home. Riley got out wordlessly and took her backpack straight back to her room. She'd earned her parents' trust more, so they allowed her to do her homework up in her room and took her word that she was done. The kid brought home A's, so whatever she was doing was working. Nick helped the younger two out and followed them inside, tossing the keys on the counter. As he went into the kitchen, he called back to Riley.

"Ry! You've got your session at 4:30. Don't forget!"

He heard her door close, and hopefully she was getting busy. Nick cleared his throat as he got two packets of raisins out of the cupboard and handed them to the two awaited pairs of hands.

"Raisins, Daddy?" Carly moaned a little bit, but turned without another complaint when Nick gave her a warning look. She scampered off with her brother towards the couch to fight over the remote.

"Be nice." He told them both when he heard Nolan screech. Carly smiled at him and gently patted her brother's head when he came around the corner to check on them. Nolan gave him a toothy grin. "I'll be right back."

Nick walked towards the back of the house, deciding he wanted to talk to Riley a little more. She needed to realize that he wasn't trying to ruin her fun or taint her popularity. Finances were tight, and he couldn't afford to throw her a lavish party even if he wanted to. He knocked on her bedroom door and heard a _come in_. Nick walked in and closed the door, finding his daughter already hunched over her desk busy at work. If she didn't get some of her monstrous homework done before her session, she'd be up to midnight usually working.

Nick put down a pack of raisins on her desk, but then put his hands on the back of her swivel chair and rolled her backwards. Riley rolled her eyes as she felt him turn her chair as he sat on her bed. She truthfully hated when he was displeased with her, and knew he wasn't happy about her stubbornness regarding her party.

"We need to talk." He began, sitting down and leaning forward on his elbows.

"You don't want me to have a big party. I get it." She told him upfront, still thinking he was being totally unfair. He didn't get it. He didn't understand how high school worked these days. Her father was afraid that if she got a boyfriend, they would end up making out in the weight room and get murdered. She was still kissing up to the popular kids two years after she'd moved here, trying to make them realize what a fun person she was. If she could have a really great party like some of the other girls, people would keep talking about her and invite her places.

"You're right. I don't think you should have a big party, but I'm not sure you're understanding why." Money was a futile thing to Riley, and she didn't quite understand how things worked just yet. Nick was into saving money for a rainy day, not splurging on things that would bring a lot of pleasure for a short time, and leave them empty and penniless later.

"I know. Money. But can't you afford to splurge just a little bit more?" She begged him, bouncing her legs a little, hoping she could get him to give in.

"No, we can't babe." He told her honestly. "We've had to readjust our finances to get ready for sending you to college in three years. I cannot just fork over hundreds of bucks for one night, Riley. I'm sorry."

"But you send Carly to private school!" She pointed out, gesturing towards the door. "How much money do you spend on that, and you can't spare anything for my sweet sixteen party?"

"That's different." Nick informed her, raising his eyebrows. "That's for her education, not a three hour long party."

"Well, you don't send me to private school." She pointed out, but knew Butterfield's tuition was significantly more than Foothills'.

Nick shook his head at her low blow. "You never expressed any interest, Ry. And you know how much more expensive Butterfield is. Clark is a very good school. You're in AP classes, and you're getting challenged."

Riley shook her head and sighed, realizing he just wasn't going to understand her point of view. Or maybe he did, and he thought it was stupid. Either way, Riley knew enough about her father now that she knew he wouldn't back down.

"Fine. What's the point in arguing? You're not gonna change your mind." Riley crossed her arms and pushed with her feet to go back to her desk, but didn't turn around yet.

"I want you to understand I'm not trying to ruin your life. Money is tight, and I don't believe in spending tons of money on one night. That's where I'm coming from." He explained, hoping she would understand.

"Yeah, fine." She muttered, and swiveled her chair back to her desk where she opened up her raisins. "I have lots of work to do." Riley said, hoping to get him out of her room.

Nick sighed and stood up, then walked over to her desk. He kissed the top of her head and gave her a gentle pat on the back, noticing the list of five homework assignments she had to do. Deciding to leave her to it, Nick exited the room to go watch the other two.

About an hour later, Nick loaded the three kids up in the Denali again, this time to drop Riley off at counseling, and then to take Carly to softball and watch her practice with Nolan. As they drove, Riley was curled up in the passenger seat, reading a novel that was assigned to her English class. She hadn't even asked him if she could drive today, not really in the mood. Nick sighed and looked into the rearview mirror to check on the younger two. Carly was examining her fingernails up close, which she had just painted before she left because she wanted to be just like Riley. Now she didn't want to mess them up.

"Carly, why'd you paint your nails before practice?" Nick asked his daughter honestly. She already didn't like getting dirty, and he was afraid she was going to be unreasonably prissy today with freshly painted nails.

"They'll be pretty, and maybe I'll distract the pitcher and she'll throw four balls and I'll get to walk to first base." She informed him, admiring her handiwork. In truth, she'd gotten a lot on the skin around her nails, and there were uneven blobs. Carly was proud of herself, though, which is what mattered. Try telling that to some of the already hard-core teammates she annoyed.

Riley let out an unimpressed breath of air through her nose and shook her head as she continued to read her book.

"Carly, that's stupid." She told her. "Why'd you join the team if you're gonna be worried about your nails?" Riley was rarely mean to her little sister, only when she was truly annoyed and in a bad mood.

"Riley, that's enough." Nick told her sternly. "She can do what she wants with her nails."

Carly looked at her older sister, a little hurt, but tried to focus on what her father said. Riley was in one of her rare bad moods, and knew she was mad at their dad about her party. Why didn't she just hang out with her and Nolan? They were so much fun, and always made her laugh way more than those teenager people she hung out with.

Nick pulled up to the therapists' office, where she'd been going a little over a year after switching from another counselor. He put the car in park and watched as Riley gathered up her purse and marked her page in her novel.

"I'll see you in an hour, sweetie." Nick promised her. Riley looked at him momentarily and nodded, then left wordlessly. The way she walked away looked obviously displeased, and reminded him a lot of how Sara walked when she wasn't happy. He shrugged a shoulder and pulled out of the lot. Hopefully in a month, this would all be forgotten and she'd be back to her normal self – still a bit mouthy, but overall much more agreeable. Carly summed it up as they pulled out into traffic, and had Nick agreeing with a smirk.

"Daddy, she has not been very pleasant lately."


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Wooooo Happy Fourth of July to those who celebrate!Mine was pretty awesome! Thanks to those who reviewed! Let me know what you think: )

Riley put away her novel when she saw her father's Denali pulling up to the shrink's office, as she sat with her ankles crossed on the sidewalk. She sighed as she gathered her cell phone and stuck it in her purse. No one had tried to call her or text her during her session. Today was one of those sessions when she wished someone would have. Her heart really wasn't into it this time. She'd had a long, tiring day, and had been arguing with her father just before. Her therapist was getting frustrated with her today, Riley could tell. Riley wasn't elaborating on her feelings at all when Dr. Carlson asked questions. She didn't want to talk about how she felt when she had to change in gym class in front of the other girls. She didn't want to talk about whether that brought her back to a scary place. All she was concerned with today was going home, eating, and grabbing a good forty-five minute nap. But nooooooooo. Dr. Carlson wouldn't let her shut her eyes, she just kept on and on and on. And on.

The fifteen year old sighed dramatically as Nick pulled up to the sidewalk. She climbed into the front seat and yawned. Immediately, she noticed Carly was sniffling in the back seat, but her father didn't seem too bothered by it. If she hadn't been so damn tired, she would've asked her little sister what was wrong, but right now she didn't want to deal with the second grader's dramatics.

"How was your session?" Nick kept his eyes on the road, already having some idea of what her answer would be based on her demeanor.

"It sucked. I told you it's not helping me." She put her feet up on the dashboard in hopes of relaxing. Nick backhanded her leg lightly.

"Get those off of there." He instructed her as took a right turn out of the complex. Riley grumbled in response, but took her feet down. Hard ass. Everything about him was annoying her for some reason today. Being back with her grandparents and all her friends made her realize how much she missed that life, and even after two years, her heart was torn between her two lives. She loved living with the Stokes most of the time. Really, all the time, except for when she was in trouble. Riley always got punished way worse that she ever would've gotten with her mom and stepdad But the rest of the time, she felt much safer and happier than she had been in Tucson. Riley realized what a wild child she had been back then, and though it had sucked, Nick had brought her back to a better standard of living. He'd forced her to have greater respect for herself, and to expect more out of her life. Back in Tucson, her plans had been to finish up high school and get a job waitressing or at Target or something. Now, Nick and Sara expected her to go to college. It was no longer a matter of if she was going, it was a matter of which one.

But back home – there was nothing like home – she was still loved and adored by her grandparents and all her pals from elementary and middle school. There was something to be envied about the way they lived. All her friends lived for the day and the right now, and didn't worry about what was coming in two years when they graduated. Things were safe, in a word. Everything was predictable, and everyone knew exactly who their neighbors were. Riley could practically predict who would be elected Homecoming Queen, and who would go out with who. And their lifestyle was simple - sitting on the front porch in the evening, watching NASCAR races, sneaking down to the lake after dark with her friends and a few guys. It wasn't the most glamorous of lives, but that's the way Riley had lived for thirteen years, and it just felt right. She was still adjusting to the Stokes, and messed up on occasion with them.

And what if Nick had known about her mother being pregnant? What would've happened if he'd stayed in Tucson to raise her mom? There would have been no stepdads. Well, Nick never would've let anything happen if there was one around. He'd be even more protective of her as he was now, like with Carly. He still wouldn't let the poor kid cross the street without him at least watching from the window. Would her personality still be the same? Or would she be more lady-like and sweet like Carly if Nick had raised her all his life? She'd talked about this with her therapist, and she'd urged her to talk about this with Nick, but also not to let those thought overwhelm her thoughts. There was no point in wondering what could have been. Dr. Carlson told her to work on the now, and the future.

In a few words, she was still so confused. Was she supposed to pick where she liked better? Did she really have any control over it? She was mandated by law to live with her father, so it's not like she could just snap her fingers and move back to Tucson. For better or worse, she was stuck here with the Stokes.

Carly's whimpering increased as they neared their home. Nick checked on his middle child in the rearview mirror.

"Carly, you're fine." He told her, with a hint of impatience in his voice.

"I don't like all the dirt!" She complained sadly. Riley decided to turn around to see what all the fuss was about. The kid must have been pushed or actually slid into home base, because she had dirt all over the front of her. And she was acting like it was her own blood, the way she was whimpering and whining, and looking at it, disgusted.

"You'll survive." Nick assured her as they turned into their subdivision. He shook his head at the differences between the two girls. Carly was his lady, and Riley was his free spirit.

"Daddy, I gotta go poop." Nolan announced loudly.

And Nolan was his little man.

"Almost home, guys." He assured all three of his children as he made a left onto their street. Nolan started whimpering, Carly kept on whining, and Riley let out a grumble. Nick chuckled, "You three are just pitiful."

No one said anything as Nick pulled into the driveway and parked the car. He got out quickly to unbuckle Nolan and let him dash into the house to do his business. The girls got out much slower, taking their time. Carly whimpered her way over to her father.

"Daddyyyyy!" The look on her face did not do justice for what she was whining about. Nick sighed and held out his hand to her.

"C'mon, sweet pea." He urged her, then turned back to look at Riley. "Ry, will you get the mail for me, please?"

It was a small task, but Riley grumbled pathetically anyway. She gave a huff as she turned around and walked those long ten feet to the end of the driveway to pick up the mail. Riley slammed the mailbox shut and began sifting through the items to see if magically there would be anything for her, besides bills for her parents.

Magically, there was! And it was something that through the teenager for a loop. There, with her name on it, was a letter from Butterfield Academy. Riley hurried inside as she held the rest of the mail under one arm and struggled to open the letter with the other. She managed to kick the door shut and walked quickly towards the breakfast bar. Nick was treating the stains on Carly's uniform while she took a shower, and notice that his oldest seemed to be quite enthralled by one particular piece of mail.

"What do you have there?" He inquired as he scrubbed away at the dirt with some detergent to pretreat it. Riley's eyes were currently darting back and forth on the page she was reading, her mouth slowly opening until it was a full-out gape.

"Oh my God." She muttered, and Nick couldn't tell if it was a good 'oh my God', or the bad kind. He studied her face for any clue, and soon those eyes twinkled a bit and a smile spread across her lips.

"What is it, Ry?" He set down the shirt, wiped his hands on a towel, and began to walk around the island to read over her shoulder. She was killing him.

"It's from Butterfield!" She told him as he neared, her eyes still glued to the crisp, white piece of paper. "And they said I'm eligible for a scholarship to go there!"

Nick's mouth took on the same gaping expression as his daughter as she handed it to him to read for himself. His eyes darted, trying to quickly read the information to see if it was true.

"Dear Ms. Groves, upon recent review of your impressive academic record at Ed W. Clark High School and exceptional standardized test results, we are pleased to inform you of your eligibility for the Butterfield Student Scholarship Program…" Nick mumbled quickly out loud.

Riley squealed and started dancing around the dining room area at the news. Butterfield wanted her? HER?! They were impressed with her scores and her grades? This was unbelievable.

Nick was smiling, but he kept on reading to make sure he got the full idea of things. He could tell Riley was definitely excited, which he wasn't sure he was surprised about or not. Nick would've thought she'd hate private school, especially strict no-nonsense Butterfield. But there she was, jumping for joy at the prospect of attending.

"Eligible students must take the Scholastic Aptitude Test prior to April 18th of this year and receive a score no less than 1900. Applicants must also write a one thousand word essay detailing why they would benefit from Butterfield and its rigorous, college-prepatory environment. Please contact the admissions office if you have further questions."

Nick whistled at the news and the admissions process, letting the letter fall to the counter as he just watched his daughter dance around happily and laughing. He crossed his arms over his chest and just smiled at her until she made her way over to him. She was grinning from ear to ear as she grabbed his arms, wanting him to join in the celebration.

"Daddy! Daddy!" She jumped up and down and urged him to do the same. Nick played along and bounced around a bit from foot to foot, glad to see his daughter so excited about something other than her sweet sixteen party. "Can you believe it?! They want me?"

"I know! That's great, baby. I'm so proud of you." He praised her, then brought her in for a fatherly hug. Barely having time to kiss her on the head, Riley pulled away and began twirling herself around with his hand like a ballerina. Nick had never seen his daughter act this way the two and a half years he'd known her. He wondered if she was like this a lot as a little kid.

"This is so great!" She grinned, and clapped her hands together multiple times. "I've gotta call Sara!"

Riley skipped to her backpack to find her cell phone, which she of course turned off during the school day. She would never think of texting friends in class. Nick shook his head as he saw her gleefully finding Sara's number in her phone book. It was great to see her so excited about something, but he couldn't be more surprised at what it was about. He would've thought she'd just won tickets to Fall Out Boy. But she had a chance of getting in to rigorous Butterfield Academy. Nick never dreamed that she would actually want to go to that school. He had a hard time getting her to do the dishes – how could the teachers there put up with her? How would Riley put up with the teachers? Though she was smart as a whip, she didn't love school, especially all the tight schedules and rules they were known for. Why was Riley so enthused with the prospect of going to the strictest school in the city?

Nick went back to the kitchen to finish treating Carly's shirt, listening to Riley squeal to his wife over the phone. He could tell by Riley's reactions that Sara was just as surprised as he was. There would definitely be lots of talking and discussion that evening, and the next few days as they contemplated the possibility. Nick's thoughts were interrupted by some small arms around his waist. He glanced down to see his middle child, smelling very nice and looking much happier.

"Hey, baby." He greeted her.

"Hi, Daddy." She squeezed him from the side as he worked at her uniform. It was hard for the second grader to watch her previously beautiful white uniform covered in nasty dirt. She didn't quite understand how all the girls on her team didn't seem to mind. "What's Riley so excited about?"

Nick gathered her uniform in a tight ball and tried to squeeze the water out the best he could as Riley laughed and laughed on the phone with Sara.

"Well, she got a letter from Butterfield Academy. She might get to go there if she gets a good score on her SATs."

Carly watched her father squeezing the white garment as she processed the information. He began to move towards the laundry room and she followed after him.

"What's the SAT?" She inquired, tagging along with him. Carly was still at the age where she loved being around her mother and father. It was funny that though Riley was already a teenager, she liked to hang out with her parents also because she'd lost that precious time with her father as a young child. Nick was still finding amazing things out about her every day even two and a half years later, like how excited she was about Butterfield.

"It's an important test high school kids have to take to get into college." He explained as he tossed the uniform into the washing machine, along with some other whites that were gathered nearby. Carly grabbed the laundry detergent, always loving to measure it out for her parents. It was just a tiny thing, and Nick marveled at how it made her feel so important.

Nick helped her hold the jug as she stuck her tongue out the side of her mouth in concentration, expertly pouring out the liquid. Soon she'd filled it just the right amount, and then carefully poured it into the machine.

"Good girl." Nick praised her as she closed the top. "Go ahead and turn it to heavy wash."

Carly did as he asked and turned around proudly. He then gave her a piggy back ride back to the kitchen area. Riley was still on the phone, explaining how she needed to get a 1900 on her SATs to get in. Nick made a mental note to get his daughter signed up soon for a test. They were planning on signing Riley up for some tutorial classes, but Nick wasn't sure if it was too late now for this session. She would no doubt be taking the test multiple times when she was a junior and senior for when she was actually trying to get into college. At least the classes would help for that. Riley would just have to depend on her natural smarts and brush up on her knowledge herself for her first SAT. It made Nick's mind wander to some mail they'd gotten a while back about SAT dates coming up, so Nick went to the file they kept important papers in on the counter.

"Daddy, will I hafta take the SAT someday?" Carly asked worriedly as Nick adjusted her, beginning to sift through some papers.

"Yes, baby. Most everyone does." He explained. It had also been their plan with Carly and Nolan since birth that they'd both go to college. They'd been planning financially for it, even as Carly was just learning her ABC's.

"I don't think I wanna take it." She told him, thinking it sounded like the ultimate big scary test. Poor Carly got horrible butterflies before her spelling test every Friday. And Riley had to get a 1900 to get into Butterfield? She had to answer 1900 questions right?! That must take weeks to get through all of those! Carly never wanted to grow up.

"It's not that bad, baby." Nick assured her. "You'll be ready when it's your turn and you'll do great."

Carly buried her face between his shoulder blades, trying not to think about it. They heard a crash in the hallway, and Nick realized it must be Nolan.

"Sweetie, will you go check on your brother please?" He asked his youngest daughter as he found the paper he was looking for. Carly hopped off wordlessly and went chasing after her brother.

"Nolan Thomas Stokes! I'm coming!" She warned him sternly, making Nick chuckle. His eyes raced over the paper, explaining the coming dates and locations for the test. His heart dropped a little when he saw that the only date left to sign up for before Butterfield's deadline was Saturday, April 13th. Riley's sweet sixteen party was scheduled for Friday the 12th, and they'd already booked the Holiday Inn conference room for it. The worker who'd scheduled it for him commented he was lucky there were any dates at all open in the spring with graduations and weddings going on, so he doubted they could reschedule for Saturday or another weekend. The SAT started at eight in the morning, and Nick was a firm believer that his kids needed a good night's sleep before tests, especially one as big as this.

Nick's fingers rubbed at his forehead and nose, already picturing that conversation as Riley talked excitedly in the background. Well, sweetie, you'll have to choose between your sweet sixteen party and your future for the next two years. Or, he could be a hardass and make her have the party at home, or somewhere less desirable. Crap, he'd lose his $200 deposit if he bailed on the reservation. Shit, shit, shit. She'd never speak to him again if he did that.

Riley clicked her phone off and came scurrying over to him again, her face lit up and her dazzly white teeth smiling back at him. She hugged him tightly again.

"I still can't believe it, Daddy. It's amazing!!" She squealed, grabbing his hands and clapping them together. Nick saw she was so excited, he didn't have the heart to burst her bubble at the moment. He smiled at her and kissed her forehead.

"I'm proud of you, sweetie. Butterfield's a great school." He nodded at her, beaming. She looked at him suddenly like he was crazy.

"A great school?" She questioned. "Dad, it's the best in Vegas!"

Nick nodded and smirked at her again. "You're right." He admitted as she did another twirl. Nick didn't have a chance to tell her anything else.

"I'm gonna go call Grandma and then Allison, and then I promise I'll get to my homework." She called over her shoulder as she scurried off towards her bedroom. Nick watched her go but didn't say anything. Though he was getting to know his daughter better every day, he really didn't know where her heart would be on this one. Surely she wouldn't throw away the chance at Butterfield just because of one party? Her reaction seemed to say it all, but she'd had just as strong of a reaction about her party. She was passionate about all the possibilities of DJs, refreshments, guests – she'd even started designing her own invitations on the computer.

Nick sighed and couldn't wait for his wife to get home and talk some sense to him. She'd surely know what to do. Sara would know how their teenager would react to the decision she'd have to make. If she didn't, they just may be totally screwed.


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N: Woooo sorry about the suckiness at not updating lately! My mom was visiting me for a week, so we were chilling like villains all week. Sorry if I haven't responded to reviews – I really do appreciate all of them and will have more time now to send you a message back! Thanks again for reading!_

"Nick!" Riley began singing to the famous _Eye of the Tiger_ song as she snuck up behind her father stirring the ground beef. "Nick! Nick! Nick!"

Nick cleared his throat and furrowed his eyebrows, but kept stirring at the dinner in front of the stove. Riley got into these moods sometimes.

"Nick! Nick! Niiiiiick!" She began dancing around in what could only be described as a very confused array of motions. "Nick's the man, stirring the beef! He's a CSI! He's got ambition! He knows someday he just might becoooome supervisor!"

Riley had been riding high ever since her letter from Butterfield Academy had arrived earlier that day. In fact, she had been breaking into song randomly, which was something very un-Riley-like. From what he could tell, she only did this when she was truly in a state of euphoria. It was almost like she was high. Her little shows did make cooking dinner a hell of a lot more fun than usual.

"Will you set the table please?" He asked her as he walked over to the sink with the pot in hand to drain it, making no mention of her theatrics. Riley grumbled a little in disappointment, but still smiled as she did a sashay across the linoleum floor towards the silverware.

"Do you not like my dancing and singing, Daddy?" Her puppy dog eyes and decidedly sad face tugged at his heart strings, making him wonder if he would've spoiled her rotten as a child. If she had paired those chocolate brown eyes with a grin full of missing teeth, he didn't think he'd have a dime in his savings account. Her father cracked a smile as he crossed the kitchen once again. She had a way of making him laugh.

"It's endearing, sweetheart, but don't quit school to go to Hollywood, okay?"

Riley swished her handful of knives around expertly like a ninja as she walked towards him. "How could I possibly quit school if I had a scholarship to Butterfield?"

Nick shrugged as he spooned the ground beef onto the tortillas as evenly as he could. "People have done stupider things." He pointed out and had to shake his head again at her antics as she swooshed the silver wear around. "Like waving knives around in the air."

Riley feigned insult as Nick turned his head towards her, plastered with his signature grin – a grin she had grown quite fond of over the two and a half years she had known him. Whoever knew that a simple smile could make someone feel so much better? The teenager retaliated by kicking her dad in the butt. However, his lightning fast reflexes gave him the upper hand as he grabbed her foot, turned her around and walked. This forced his daughter to start hopping out of the kitchen on one foot as he held the other.

"Daaaad! You suck!" She laughed as they reached the dining room. Nick released her foot and watched her shake it out.

"Set the table, you little drama queen. Then you can exit stage right and find your brother before he tries to stick another Lego up his nose."

Riley sighed and smiled as her father left the dining room to go finish up the dinner. She began laying the silver wear out at the five places – knives on the right, forks on the left, just like Sara had taught her. Moments later, a Nolan screech sounded throughout the house and the patter of his feet could clearly be heard coming down the hall. It was followed a blink of an eye later by an intimidating Carly with her hands perched on her little hips, an angry scowl on her face. She was starting to look more and more like her mother every day.

"Young man! Come back here!" She ordered her younger brother as he paraded around the coffee table with her American Girl Felicity doll. Carly had entered a somewhat bossy stage with her little brother once she'd hit second grade. She liked the prospect of being in charge of someone else, and could get out of hand at times. Already, she had become a mini-mockery of Sara and Nick's parental warning phrases, occasionally ordering her brother to his room. However, she didn't quite have the problem solving skills of an adult.

"I'm gonna tell on you!" She threatened.

Nolan cackled as the two youngest Stokes stood at opposite sides of the coffee table. He then did the thing Carly absolutely hated the most. He licked the side of Felicity's face with a mischievous grin. Nolan was just beginning to discover the fun of taunting and annoying his older sisters, and Carly just made it easy.

"Daddyyyyy!!!" Carly whimpered loudly as she stomped one of her feet. She sulked as she walked slowly to the kitchen with her arms crossed. Saliva did not look good on Felicity's face. Riley bit back a laugh from where she was finishing off in the dining room. Carly practically egged him on with her reactions. If she wanted to, she could probably get hours of entertainment out of her younger sister. But she wasn't quite as immature as Nolan. It was, however, very fun to watch. Carly had been particularly high-strung lately.

Nick and Sara were trying to teach Carly to solve problems on her own, but were also aware that Nolan could be a bit difficult at times. As Carly wrapped her arms around her father from the side, hoping for help, Nick turned to look at his son who was now chewing on poor Felicity's fingers.

"Daddy, he licked my doll again!" Carly reported sadly as she buried her face in his side. Nick patted her back and gently guided her face away from him. Sulking didn't do her any good and he was trying to get her past that stage.

"I'm sorry, Carly. What do you need to say to him?" Nick prompted her as he began walking her over towards Nolan.

"I told him to stop and he won't listen!" She whined further, grasping his hand.

"Well, I heard Miss Bossy Pants." He called her on her previously domineering demands of her brother minutes earlier.

Carly whimpered when she saw her brother practically mutilating her favorite doll. "Just make him stop."

"Nolan Thomas, what are you doing?" Nick asked his son. Nolan continued to chew the doll's fingers as he looked at his father and shrugged. Nick looked down at his daughter, trying to prompt her to take the lead. He was having to coach Carly more and more lately with what to say to people and how to say it. She seemed intimidated, and scared almost when faced with a dilemma. With her, it seemed she either bossed or cowered and it amazed him how quickly she could switch from one to the other.

"Carly, what do you need to say?" Nick prompted his daughter, stroking her hair away from her face so she could look at Nolan. Instead of telling him nicely, but firmly to stop like her parents had taught her, she buried her face again in Nick's side. Nick furrowed his brow at her sudden shyness. "Carly, be brave. You're a big girl."

Riley was watching now curiously from her seat on the edge of the kitchen table. Her sister puzzled her sometimes. She could be such a schmuck. Was she really being thrown off by a three year old? That seven year old was a real piece of work. Riley was completely taken aback when Carly started to cry. Nick seemed just as surprised because he was trying to raise his daughter to be independent and strong, and knew Sara wanted the same.

"Nolan, give me Felicity." Nick told his son firmly, holding out his free hand. Nolan seemed to debate momentarily, but handed her over when his father gave him a stern look. He quickly wiped Felicity's cheek off on his jeans and handed her to Carly. Nick then reached down and picked his youngest daughter up, who was still shedding some stressed-out tears. He wasn't quite sure what was going on with her, and why she'd lost it. As Carly buried her face in his shoulder, he turned to look at Riley.

"Ry, will you watch Nolan for a few minutes?" He requested. Riley nodded and walked to the living room to make sure her brother didn't do anything stupid while Nick took Carly up to her room. Nolan began running circles around the coffee table, which was apparently incredibly liberating at his age. She plopped herself down on the couch and watched as her brother scampered over to her with that seemingly permanent mischievous look on his face.

"He heeeeee!" He giggled and reached down, untying his sister's shoe laces. Riley grumbled and shooed his hands away. What was it about three year olds that made them like to do the most irritating things? She felt for Carly now that she was the subject of his wrath.

"Nolan, quit." Riley told him in a firm voice, looking him sternly in the eye. Her look still wasn't quite as daunting as her father's, and probably would never be, but she kept working on it. Nolan still kept at it, so Riley grabbed both his wrists and held them in hers. "Nolan, it's not nice to do that to people. And it's not nice to take Carly's dolls."

Nolan just grinned and pried his hands away. Seeing that it was no use talking sense into a three year old, Riley let him go and he waddled off to find some other object to prey on. Somehow the drool that periodically occupied his little chin and his always disheveled brown hair were more threatening at times than algebraic equations. Riley was glad to be able to leave his disposition to her parents, and was relieved to hear the garage door open. Moments later, Sara appeared with her workbag slung over her shoulder, and was bombarded by the preschooled terror.

"Mommyyyyy!!" The being attached to her leg squealed as she tried to walk in. Sara laughed and picked her only son up, showering him with kisses he may not really deserve. Riley rolled her eyes and watched from the couch, deciding to wait her turn. They would have much to talk about after the letter that had come earlier that day. Riley suspected she'd want to read it herself, and then they'd marvel together about how Butterfield wanted her. Her! Two years ago, none of them would have imagined it the way Riley had been heading. The queen of blowing off projects until the last minute, of worming her way around answering essay questions, and bullshitting her way through unrehearsed off-the-top-of-her-head speeches was being scouted by a big-time school.

"Have you been a good boy today?" Sara worked her way over to the couch to sit next to Riley. At least Nolan had the sense to look at Riley, knowing she could counter his claim of good behavior.

"No. I licked Felicity again." Nolan admitted sadly, playing with the charm on his mother's necklace as she cradled him in his lap. At least he was learning the sense of right and wrong, though he was still getting the hang of actually choosing the right thing to do.

Sara had to purse her lips to keep from smiling at his answer. How random a response was that? Only Nolan could get away with an explanation like that, and she didn't doubt he'd done it for one second.

"Hmmm that's not very nice." Sara agreed as she raised her eyebrows at him. She noticed Nick and Carly weren't around, and hypothesized he was off talking to her for some reason. "Did you tell her you're sorry?"

Nolan shook his head no and his tongue slithered out the corner of his mouth in concentration. "Uh-uh. She was cryin' so I couldn't."

Sara turned to look at her oldest daughter, hoping for an elaboration. Nolan wasn't very good at giving accurate recounts of family events. Riley was much better, and could always give a dramatic narrative.

"She must've had a rough day." Riley explained, resting her head on the back of the couch. "She was chasin' after Nolan after he took her doll, and then when Dad tried to help her, she started crying. He's up with her now. She just kind of lost it." She shrugged her shoulders, indicating her own sense of puzzlement about the situation.

Carly had been having more and more lapses like this lately, where she'd just break down in the face of a problem, and cower to one of her parents for comfort. She always been a happy child, and not one too fearful of anything in particular except for spiders. Her change lately had the entire family puzzled. Except for Nolan, because it just added to his childish glee of taunting his sister. That's what little brothers were for.

"Huh." Sara huffed and adjusted her son in her lap. "I'll have to talk to your dad later about it. Of course the big news of the day is your letter! Congratulations, sweetie."

Riley beamed and basked in her praise, which was something she didn't readily admit to. Her relationship with Sara had been a rocky one at the beginning, but slowly they were getting closer and closer. Of course she would never be her real mother, but she was a pretty damn good stepmother if she'd ever known one. She knew how to balance friendliness, and a stern look when it was needed.

"Thanks. I'm still trying to adjust to the shock." Riley admitted as Nolan slipped off Sara's lap.

"I'm sure." Sara turned towards her oldest and rested her hand on the side of her head as she leaned in to the couch. "So they said they'd fully cover your tuition?"

"Yep." Riley smiled as she thought about it more. "I just have to get a 1900 on my SATs and write an essay."

"Ooof." Sara commented. "I guess a 1600 isn't perfect anymore, huh? What are you supposed to write your essay about?"

She turned her head to the side a bit when she heard footsteps on the stairs, immediately identifying them as her husband's. He came down sighing as Riley gave her answer to Sara. She'd practically memorized the speech she was giving to everyone now about the requirements. Both the women's eyes followed Nick as he went into the kitchen to check on the dinner for any indication as to what was up with Carly. He looked in the oven quickly and decided it needed another few minutes. The look on his face displayed his confusion still about the event.

"I hear Carly had a bit of a breakdown." Sara acknowledged as he walked closer to the couch. Nick let out a sigh as he sat next to his wife and kissed her temple gently.

"Mmmhmm. I'll talk to you more about it later. She's takin' a nap now." He reported. Riley let out an offended sound but smiled at her father.

"What? Am I getting in the way or something?"

"Yes. You're always in my way." Nick joked with a totally serious tone to his voice. "If I start makin' out with Sara, will you leave?"

Sara laughed as Riley crinkled her nose in disgust at the thought. Nick wrapped his arms around his wife and gave her a sweet kiss on her lips, but didn't go any further.

"Barf." Riley commented, shaking her head.

"Don't you have some homework to get to before dinner?" Nick reminded his daughter. "Especially if you're trying to get into the Margarinefield school."

Riley punched him in the arm as she pushed herself up off the couch. "Fiiine. But you better behave yourselves, or I'll unleash Nolan on you."

"Scoot." Nick told her, kicking her square but lightly in the butt like she'd done earlier as he snuggled in further with Sara. Riley gave him a glare, and he returned it and added a wink. As soon as Riley was out of earshot, Nick let out an exhausted sigh. Sara rubbed her hand up and down his chest and kissed his cheek and jawline several times as his face took on a different appearance than in front of his children.

"What's going on, babe?" She asked him gently.

"Well, the thing Riley doesn't know yet is that the only time left to take the SAT is the Saturday right after her birthday party." He started quietly so no one would overhear. "And we both know she's not gonna be partying light."

Sara sighed at the dilemma. "I see." She told him as he gently moved her legs so they were draped over his lap instead of into his side. "And I sense you don't think that's a good idea to have them back to back?"

Nick looked at Sara as he rubbed her calf gently. "Well don't you think so?" He checked, but only got a look that wanted more explanation. "I mean, she'll be up 'til past midnight probably and the test starts at the butt crack of dawn. There's no way she'll be in a good condition to take a test as big as that."

Sara gave him an almost motherly look. "Nicky, it's not like she's gonna be drinking alcohol. We're gonna be there. And I think she'll be reasonable if we tell her the dilemma. Seems to me that she's pretty excited about Butterfield, and she's not going to jeopardize that for one night of partying." She spoke reasonably. Nick often had a way of getting ahead of himself. And with Riley, there was still so much that was unknown. He thought he knew her values, but teenage girls were somewhat of a mystery to him. Especially the one he called his own.

"You think?" He asked, tracing unknown patterns on her skin. "She talks about the party all the time and acts like the world will end if she doesn't get a top-notch DJ. And she never seemed to care much about private school." Nick thought out loud about his daughter.

"Baby, I don't think you're giving her enough credit." Sara told him honestly, looking him in the eye. "She may not act like school is her top priority, but I think it really is. But she's fifteen, she's not going to act all obedient and excited about private school when she never knew she had a chance."

Nick thought silently about his wife's words. She seemed to understand Riley a lot better than him sometimes. It all made sense what she was saying, but he still wondered if Riley would really want to sacrifice her sweet sixteen party for the Scholastic Aptitude Test.

"Yeah. Maybe you're right." He murmured, and felt her hand on top of his. Nick turned his head again to look into her eyes.

"Quit worrying so much. She's a good kid at heart. I think we just need to be honest with her." Sara went on. Nick smirked his famous grin, the skin crinkling just next to his eyes – evidence that he'd led a happy, full life. She leaned forward slightly to capture his lips in hers. God, his lips. Sara would never get tired of kissing them and their gentle, reassuring strength. The couple exchanged several slow, thorough kisses before Sara pulled back again and tousled his hair.

"And what about Carly?" She inquired as she admired the tan that always seemed just right on his face. That perfect skin that she loved to feel beneath her fingertips.

Another troubled breath left Nick's lungs at the thought of his middle child. "I don't know. She seems more on edge lately." He thought of the many occurrences over the last few weeks. "Nolan's not helping."

Sara let out a tiny amused breath through her nose as she watched their son playing with a few Legos on the kitchen floor. That little one was definitely figuring out how to play Carly. "Probably not. What did he do?"

"Nothing too awful. He had her American Girl doll and he licked it and was biting her fingers. And when I tried to back her up, she wouldn't say anything and then she started crying." Nick explained, rubbing his face. "I took her up to her room and tried to talk to her about it, but she was still really upset. So we just cuddled for a few minutes until she calmed down and then I put her down for a nap."

"She got upset over that?" She seemed just as bewildered about it. "I wonder what's going on with her."

Nick looked at her again and smiled. "I was hoping you'd know. You seem to know the girls' moods better than me."

"Well even she has me stumped." Sara admitted, crossing her ankles the other way. "I'm sure it's just a phase."

They locked lips again, but were soon interrupted by the buzzer on the oven going off. Nolan let out a happy sound and stood, walking to the oven door to check.

"Nolan Thomas Stokes, don't you dare." Nick's voice told his son sternly. The little boy turned and smiled at his father, sticking his finger in his mouth in innocence. Nick kissed Sara's cheek and gently moved her legs so he could get up. Moments later, he scooped his son up and put him on the opposite counter so he could get to the dinner without fear of him getting burned. He retrieved the steaming enchiladas and set them on top of the stove, the scrumptious scent of the beef mixed with cheese and sauces wafting throughout the house.

"Little man, you still hungry after chewing on that doll's fingers?" He asked his son as he got out the plates and took some rice off the burner. Nolan couldn't tell if his dad was really joking around with him or he was displeased. The look on his face confirmed he wasn't happy with his actions.

"Yes, Daddy."

Nick nodded as he dished one enchilada onto the first plate and spoke over his shoulder to his son.

"You don't mess around with your sister's stuff, do you understand me Nolan?" He asked softly, but still in a firm fatherly voice.

"Yes." He answered quietly as he swung his feet a little. Nolan already didn't like when his parents weren't happy with him. Nick turned around and nodded, then crossed the floor to kiss him on the forehead and help him down from the counter.

"Good. Will you go get Riley please and tell her dinner's ready?" He requested. Nolan nodded his head and scampered off to find his oldest sister in her room. Sara walked up behind him and wrapped her arms around his supportively. Placing a kiss between his shoulder blades, she gave him a firm squeeze.

"I hope you made vegetarian enchiladas for me." She teased, knowing he never forgot. Poor Sara was the lone herbivore amongst a family of die-hard meat-eaters. However, she was always well taken care of by her husband.

Nick turned slightly to wrap one arm around her. "Of course, m'dear." He mocked an upper class accent, but it failed due to his dominant Texan twang. Sara laughed and gave him a playful swat on the bottom before releasing the hug.

"I'll go get Carly before that beefy smell makes me upchuck."

Nick smiled as he dished out the food to all the plates and made a threat.

"If you do, you're not gettin' any tonight."


	5. Chapter 5

_A/N: Thanks again for the reviews, and please keep them coming! They are my joy in the midst of this boredom! I just got done reading this really descriptive book, so I hope you don't mind all my explaining and long paragraphs._

"Yeah, Grandma, can you believe it?" A still-on-cloud-nine Riley toned to her grandmother later that evening. Dinner had long since finished and the sophomore was now laying on her bed backwards, her feet lodged on a crook in her creamy white headboard. Her cell phone was perched between her shoulder and ear as she played with a long strand of hair, listening to the reassuring sound of her mother's mother. She'd just explained her letter from Butterfield to her, and her grandma could tell how excited she was about it.

"That's great, sweetheart." The older, more experienced woman praised her favorite grandchild. She knew you weren't supposed to have favorites, but Riley had always been special to her. "I always knew you were a smart cookie."

"Grandma…" She pretended to not like the praise, but she always basked in it. Riley had always cared what her dear grandmother thought as a child, and depended on her for guidance since her mom was decidedly out of the loop. The teenager never understood how someone so self-centered and vile could come from such a wonderful lady. Once, her grandmother had told her that her daughter wasn't cut out to be on mom, but that she was sure glad she'd had Riley. In fact, Laura had been considering getting an abortion when there was no word of Nick in the following weeks, but she'd talked her out of it. There was a child growing inside of her, and that was the most precious, important thing in the world. If Laura couldn't take care of her, she would see to it that Riley was in good hands in her own home. When her own daughter had died in that terrible car crash, it had broken her heart that Riley had to move away. She would've gladly taken the child into her home, as well as her friend Allison, but the court had been very clear in its decision. Riley belonged with her biological father.

Audrey had been very reluctant to let her darling granddaughter into the hands of a stranger – especially one that had left her daughter in such shambles. She never knew the whole story until Riley had recounted it on one of her visits. At the time, it seemed as though this Stokes fellow had taken advantage of her Laura. Audrey knew Laura really asked for it. She didn't deny that she was a promiscuous girl, and brought home a different guy every week, but leave her Laura pregnant and alone? Audrey didn't often curse someone, but oh how she had cursed that Nick Stokes. Left without a word, never returned Laura's phone calls, never stopped by to see how she was doing. What a low-life. All she could do was dry Laura's tears and assure her everything would be okay. They would help her raise the baby, and she wouldn't have to be alone. And they'd done pretty well, Audrey thought, for the most part. Laura ended up marrying some other guy – a guy she never really did like that much, but he seemed to make her daughter happy. It wasn't until about a year ago Audrey had found out that feeling about that jerk had been well-founded. What he'd done to Riley was despicable. And she hadn't even noticed! Had she missed the signs that Riley was going through this terrible turmoil silently? Perhaps they had been in plain sight and this was God's way of punishing her for not knowing. Taken her daughter away, and having her precious grandchild sent far off.

That day. That terrible day. If not for the sake of her granddaughter, Audrey would have been a total wreck. But she had to be there for Riley during her time of need. Her mother was dead, and though the worst thing in life is having to experience the death of your own child, the look in Riley's eyes had just been heartbreaking. The look of a child robbed of knowing her mother as a woman, and not just as a helpless child. Riley would never know her mother truly; would never get to call her on Sunday mornings from her own home, or seek her out for advice. Not that Laura would give very good advice anyway, but Riley needed to figure that out for herself. Now her granddaughter's last memory of her mother was a fight they'd had earlier the day she died. About something stupid she'd thought too – about not wanting to spend the day with her stepfather. Riley had used profanity towards her mother, and she'd slapped her. Not the first time that had happened, but it was always a shock and quite literally a slap in the face for the poor girl's self-worth. And that was it – Laura and her husband and ridden off never to be seen alive again.

That asshole named Stokes had turned out not to be such a prick after all. After putting their rough start aside, Riley seemed to adore him from what Audrey could tell. Always described as a hard-ass, Nick seemed to control her granddaughter in a way Laura and her husband never could. She supposed it was something to do with respect. Nick respected her, and in time, Riley came to respect him. Sometimes, Riley would call her up complaining about an argument with her father, or about how harshly and unfairly he treated her. But somehow Audrey could always sense Nick was doing good for her. He kept her in line, and didn't let her slack off on her school work like Laura had. He made her go to bed at a decent hour and keep good friends. Quite literally, Nick was the father she'd never had, and had always needed. Last year she'd finally gotten to meet the famous Nick Stokes, and never in her life had she felt more comfortable leaving her granddaughter with someone. Riley was in good hands. However, there was still something selfish inside Audrey that mad her want Riley back in Tucson. Back where she thought Riley belonged. Was it possible to belong in two places? Riley was adjusting well to her new life in Las Vegas (huh – what a town to raise a kid in, eh?), but whenever she came home to visit, Audrey could just tell she was bursting at the seams with happiness. Riley loved Tucson. She loved her grandparents and her friends there. Why was life always so hard?

Much of this history passed through Audrey's head in mere seconds as her granddaughter went on about her possible future. "It's supposed to be really hard though. I'm kinda scared."

"Nonsense, Riley." Audrey chided her gently. "You were always the smartest kid in your class but you always had mediocre effort. When you actually try at something, you're good at it!"

"Yeah, but now I hardly have a life." Riley countered, thinking of how much time she had to spend cooped up in her room looking over textbooks, taking notes, losing her mind. "Dad doesn't let me do anything until my homework's done, and by that time there's only like an hour left before bedtime, which he won't back down on."

"You poor thing." Audrey mocked her, thinking Nick's rules were quite impressive and just what her granddaughter had always needed. "Your mom always knew you were smart. Smarter than she was, and she didn't know what to do with you. You know I love your mother, but she didn't have a clue what to do with those brains of yours. Guess they came from your dad." She chuckled. "And he knows what to do with you."

As if on cue, Nick knocked on his daughter's door and moments later, it opened. He was already in a t-shirt and pj pants, glasses perched on his face after taken his contacts out. Riley glanced at her alarm clock and saw that it was 9:30. Bedtime.

"Hold on, Grandma." She told her and then moved the phone away from her mouth. Riley tilted her head back so she could talk to her father. "Dad, can I talk to Grandma a little longer?"

Nick walked in further towards her desk to check to make sure her homework was all done. Not that she was stupid enough to try to pull one over on him any more in that department. All five of her assignments were checked off in her notebook and a word document still sat open on her laptop, indicating she had indeed been working on her Butterfield essay.

"Sure, baby. Just don't stay up too much longer." He told his teenager as he walked towards her bed. Nick knew Riley's relationship with her grandmother was a special one, and how could he ever deny Audrey from talking to her when she'd been snatched hundreds of miles away?

"Thanks, Dad." Riley told him as he leaned down and pressed a kiss to her forehead.

"We're goin' to bed. Love you." He declared as he walked back towards her bedroom door. Riley told him she loved him also and soon he was gone, climbing the stairs to tuck in for the night.

"I'm back, Grandma." Riley said into the phone. "I need to go to bed in a few minutes."

"Okay, sweetheart. Sorry if I'm keeping you. I just miss you so much." Audrey confessed a bit selfishly, she thought to herself. She didn't need to make Riley feel guilty. Her week with her granddaughter had been a special one, and made her realize just what she was missing out on not having her around.

"I miss you too, Grandma." Riley agreed a bit sadly as she began to play with the strings on her black lounge pants. Others' emotions were still a scary thing for her. They had never served her well in the past. "I loved coming back for Spring Break."

"I did too, peanut." She rubbed at her tired, old eyes and wondered if she should suggest her next sentence or not. The hell with it. "You know, Ry. You could always come back for a little while this summer, if you're not too busy. We'd love to have you for a little longer, and summer break's a perfect time."

Truthfully, that sounded absolutely wonderful to Riley. She ached for her past life sometimes – just absolutely ached. To spend a month or two in Tucson over the summer would be pure heaven. She had a tendency to get in trouble over the summers because she was so bored. Maybe Nick and Sara would actually like the idea of not having to deal with her summertime antics.

"Wow, really?" Riley checked hopefully. "That would be so awesome."

Audrey breathed a sigh of relief, afraid that her granddaughter would've shrugged it off. She assumed she had some extracurricular camp to go to, or would be too excited about getting her driver's license and putting to use to come visit her old grandmother.

"Well, I'm glad you think so." Audrey smiled. "You can always talk to your dad about it and see what he thinks. I wouldn't want to impose."

"No, Grandma. I'll ask him sometime. That'd be cool." She smiled and felt her heart lighten at the possibility. How nice it would be – if she found out she got accepted to Butterfield, and could spend the whole summer in Tucson as kind of a celebration. One last hoorah before the rigorous junior year of high school began. She'd been told by friends junior year was the hardest for some reason. And what if she was in the hardest school in the county? Riley thought she had written her death wish.

The granddaughter and grandmother wrapped up their conversation with wishes of wellness and _I love yous_. Riley clicked her phone off and tossed it over towards her desk to find in the morning. Allowing herself a nice cat stretch, she smirked to herself at the conversation she'd just had with her grandmother. She smiled as she forced herself off the bed to go brush her teeth and perform her nightly skin ritual to maintain her pimple-free complexion. As she dabbed her face, she could distinctly hear the sound of Sara giggling upstairs. Riley rolled her eyes, trying to block out any idea of what they were doing up there. She, for one, was glad that she had a downstairs bedroom.

Riley climbed into her sheets moments later and clicked her alarm clock on for a bewildering six a.m. She then hit the radio button to listen to her favorite alternative rock station – her nightly ritual to get to sleep. It had been a habit ever since she was a little girl because it helped drown out the noises of her mother and stepfather's stupid squabbles and sometimes their subsequent make-ups. Riley had seen and heard a lot from a young age – most of what she had told to her counselor when she was feeling commutative, and a couple of select things to Nick and Sara.

Slowly, the fifteen year old with a bright future began drifting off into sleep, her body preparing itself for yet another day of algebraic equations, John Steinbeck, and World History. Barf.

CSI CSI CSI CSI CSI

Hours later, a timid Carly Stokes found the floor of her room with her painted toes, noting that the moonlight still shone through her second-story window. She didn't have an alarm clock in her room, but she knew it must be the middle of the night, not just a few minutes before she was supposed to get up. There was no sign of the coming dawn, only the faint sound of the thousands of tiny creatures that called the outside home, chirping and clicking their nighttime songs – normally their sounds went unnoticed by Carly as she slept through the night until her mom or dad woke her up, but not this evening. Another nightmare had disturbed her gentle seven-year-old sleep. It was that one again where she was at bat during a softball game, and the whole school was there watching, and she messed up. And then her parents had been so embarrassed by her performance, that they got up and left. Even Riley and Nolan! They left her! So for the third time that week, she carefully tiptoed across her bedroom and found the brass doorknob, hearing the floorboards creek. Funny how she never even noticed the sound during the daytime – only when she was trying to find her way to her parents' room in the middle of the night to find comfort without disturbing them. She didn't even need them to hug her and kiss her and tell her everything was alright – just to be surrounded by them, and their warm, reassuring bodies. All she needed was to just be there with them, since they had left her in her dream.

Carly made her way slowly across the hallway – past Nolan's closed door to where she needed to be. She hoped they wouldn't be mad at her – her mommy and daddy always acted nice about it, wanting to coax her back to sleep gently, but she always wondered if she annoyed them. There was a rule in this house that none of the kids got to sleep in their bed unless there was some extenuating circumstance – like the one time Carly had a high fever when she was four, and her mommy would bring a cool cloth to the bed and rub her tummy soothingly. The little girl swallowed as she found the door in the near darkness, and reached out for the handle. She turned it slowly, and her heart dropped in disappointment when she felt it catch in the lock. They didn't want her disturbing them tonight – so much that they had locked the door to keep her out.

Carly tried again, as if to make sure she wasn't mistaken, jiggling the stuck handle several more times in earnest. Still, the door didn't budge. One time, when she had accidentally locked herself in the bathroom when she was really little, her daddy had pushed in the door. Knocked it right in and saved her! Carly decided to give it a shot because she was so desperate to feel herself curled up safely between her mother and father, right where she belonged. She took a step back and rammed her tiny body into the door, but the only thing that resulted was her smacking her cheek against the wood. Carly sank to the floor and felt tears threatening to spill over her eyelashes. She held onto that doorknob in hopes it would magically turn as she gave in to her horrible fear of being without her parents. It had happened to Riley! Well, her mother was gone anyway. What if she never saw her mommy or daddy again?

From inside the bedroom, Sara stirred at the sounds coming from outside the door. She listened intently for a few moments, and looked down at her husband, who was still fast asleep. Sara had never been a deep sleeper. She guessed it was a side effect of her childhood. As she listened closer, she could tell it was her daughter Carly outside that door. The poor thing was pulling hard on the doorknob, which they had purposely locked that night to seal the promise of having no interruptions during their love making. Sara quickly slipped on her nightgown, threw off the covers, and rushed over to the door. She unlocked it as fast as she could to find her youngest daughter, looking quite pitiful and distressed, on the hallway carpet on her knees crying. And not just regular, scraped-my-knee crying. It was desperate sobbing. Carly seemed surprised, but relieved to see her, as Sara bent down to tend to her child. She threw herself into Sara's arms, weeping in pure relief, and what else, Sara didn't know. The kid was acting like she had been hurt or wronged in some way. She was near hysterical at the moment, so Sara decided to save the questions for later as she hugged Carly tight and rubbed her back.

"Baby, it's okay." Sara assured her gently. "Mommy's here. It's alright."

It was one of the more rewarding things about being a mother – to calm a crying, distraught child, back to a place of solace and composure. However, this time, Sara was truly puzzled. Already twice this week, Carly had come to them similarly during the night. Their door had never been locked, but before she had climbed right up onto their bed at two in the morning, and snuggled herself in like she belonged there. Like she was the missing piece of a trio. Tonight, when faced with a locked door, the kid had broken down like she hadn't done since she was three.

Carly choked on her sobs, which had since woken up Nick, still laying in his pj pants. He watched curiously from his spot on the bed as his wife comforted their distraught little one. Her temperament lately had just been off the wall. Carly had always been such a calm child, and happy. This crying, sputtering little girl was not one he was too familiar with. Sara carefully stood up, taking Carly up with her, and exchanged a worried look with her husband on their way over to the bed. Carly held on tight and kept her face buried in her mom's shoulder as she was carried to that destination she desperately wanted. Nick turned over as Sara set their girl in the middle of the bed. Her crying had now dissipated down to a few sorrowful moans and sniffles as Nick pulled the covers over her and Sara settled in.

Carly rubbed at her eyes as she felt her father pat her stomach reassuringly. "What's wrong, baby girl?" He asked gently a few moments later, after his wife shared a confused look with him and a raised shoulder.

She didn't answer for a few moments, leaving her parents' ears straining at her troubled little sounds and whimpers. "I had a…I had a bad dream and then I got scared." She reported.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Nick apologized gently as he kissed her temple. "Well you're safe now. Nothing's gonna hurt you."

Carly didn't say anything else, just looked back and forth occasionally between her two beloved parents as she both settled in facing her. The nighttime was an altering state of mind, and the confusion of the experience wouldn't be given as much thought until the morning, when they were wide awake. For now, the two parents just clasped their hands together, joining over their daughter's stomach as she closed her wet eyes. Tomorrow. Tomorrow they would get to the bottom of it, or at least try to scratch the surface.


	6. Chapter 6

_A/N: Thanks again for reviewing! This chapter is dedicated to Megan (Ladybug07) who sadly dislocated her toe today. Let's all send her some cyber-love. Get well soon Megan! Please enjoy…_

The following Friday, Carly Stokes woke up yet again in the middle of her parents' bed, tiredly rubbing at her eyes. Usually, she was the first one up in the house, but lately Carly had been sleeping in. It was exhausting having nightmares and being afraid. Almost every night that week, she had crept into her mom and dad's bedroom during the wee hours of the morning. She could tell they were starting to get worried. Instead of that forgiving, only slightly concerned face she'd gotten before from her mother after complaining of a nightmare, her mom's face now always took on a troubled look when she ventured to her side of the bed at night. Carly wondered if she thought she was a freak, or if there was truly something wrong with her. The second grader wasn't sure why she was freaking out so much. Right now, she just really wanted to be close to her parents, and didn't like joining in on things with her classmates. Whenever she got called on in class, her palms would get sweaty, and her face red. It was embarrassing, and she wished her teacher would just quit doing that. Even if she knew the right answer, she didn't want to share it.

Her mother's side of the bed was empty, and she heard her downstairs fixing coffee for her and her dad. She turned the other way and saw that her father was still there, and watching her quite intently. Carly just stared back for a couple moments. He must think she's weird now too. And that recurring nightmare she'd been frequenting this week would come true – they'd walk away from her, so embarrassed by their own child.

Nick reached out and tousled his daughter's hair gently as she edged her way into the land of the living. He was concerned about his middle child. This last week for some reason, she'd taken a real nosedive. She was uncharacteristically scared, timid, and clingy. At least three nights in the last week, she'd ended up in their bed during the night. Not that he minded since she seemed truly scared. It wasn't a childish tantrum or trick to get to sleep in mom and dad's bed. She was truly petrified of whatever dream she was having. And Carly wouldn't tell him about it. All she would tell them was that she got scared and she wanted to be with them.

"How you doin', sweet pea?" His voice was slightly groggy from his own sleepy state.

"Okay." She yawned, squinting her eyes shut for a moment, then she opened them wide again.

Nick nodded and didn't want to push her, but she needed to start talking about what was bothering her. Otherwise he couldn't help, and that was truly a difficult thing for such a caring, devoted father.

"Did you have another nightmare?" He probed gently, reaching out to rub her little arm soothingly. Carly had always talked to him. Always. And while he knew that wouldn't last quite as openly into her teen years, he didn't think she'd be boarding herself up at age seven.

She nodded, and already knew his next question, so she answered before he could ask. "And I don't wanna talk about it. Sorry."

Nick smirked slightly and tousled her hair once again. She was very firm about her feelings and what she wanted to share, just like her mother. He knew it was no use in pushing much farther.

"Why won't you talk to me about it, sweetie? Hmm?" His voice was patient and caring. Carly's left shoulder moved up and down in a non-answer gesture.

"I just don't." She told him simply, now fiddling with the hair band on her left wrist. Nick noticed she'd started wearing them around her wrist because Riley did. She idolized her big sister. He wondered if Riley asked her about her nightmares, if she would talk to her.

"Okay." Nick whispered. "But you know you can, right? Whenever you're ready."

"I know, Daddy." She assured him, just as Nick heard footsteps on the stairs. Sara had her light blue silk robe on over her matching nightgown. It had been hard to resist her last night, but they had been interrupted by you know who.

She smirked at her husband and daughter laying there, looking lazy. Carly's face was much more relaxed now than it had been hours before, when she'd stood whimpering and scared at the side of her bed, begging to get in again.

"Two peas in a pod." Sara commented, quirking an eyebrow at similar they acted sometimes. "Get your lazy buns out of bed. Coffee's ready."

Nick scrubbed a hand over his face and began to sit up. Sara watched as he scooched Carly towards the edge of the bed and picked her up in his arms since she wasn't quite awake yet. He carried her to the door where Sara was waiting with a smile on her face.

"Has sleeping beauty not gotten her kiss from the handsome prince yet?" She wondered as she rubbed Carly's back in circles. Nick chuckled and pressed a kiss to the girl's forehead, then pulled back to see if he got a reaction. She yawned again.

"Nope, didn't work." Nick cleared his throat. "Maybe some tickling will."

Carly squirmed even before he began tickling her sides. She cackled loudly as she wriggled out of his arms and away from his tickling hands. Carly was at least slightly more awake now, as she grasped the banister to walk down the stairs. Nick wished she would giggle and smile like that more often, without being the result of a good tickling.

"Works every time." He commented as they followed her down. If only all the world's problems could be solved by tickling.

"I haven't gotten my kiss yet." Sara mocked being offended and stopped on the stairs, not willing to go any further until Nick got the hint. He sighed and gave her an amused look as he climbed back up two steps to meet her.

"So childish." He told her, leaning up from the step below her to capture her lips in a sweet, tender, good morning kiss. They kissed for several moments there on the steps until Sara pulled back.

"Much better." She smirked, fixing his flattened hair a little to her liking. "Now, I can function."

Nick shook his head but smiled at her comment, then grasped her hand as they finished walking down together. They heard the downstairs shower going, so Riley was thankfully up without having to get a rude awakening. Carly was already helping herself to some Cheerios. Nick went to the coffeemaker to pour himself some brew while Sara got the milk from the refrigerator to help Carly with. As she walked over to where she was pouring her Cheerios, Carly must not have had the control over the box she needed, because it suddenly started pouring out heavily. The child wasn't able to stop it in time, so Sara grabbed the box and turned it upright.

"Whoops." Sara told her lightly, moving the box to the side of the counter so she could scoop the extra remnants back into the plastic lining. Carly was silent for the first several seconds, but then she just started crying. Her mother looked back at her husband, who was just as confused as he was. Sara swallowed and put the box down, then turned Carly to her for a hug.

"Baby, what's the matter?" She cooed, gently stroking her brown hair. "It's just a little cereal."

Carly struggled to compose herself. "Are you mad at me?"

Sara rubbed large circles on Carly's back in reassurance. "No, honey. Why would you think I'd be mad at you? It was an accident."

Carly didn't answer, just cried softly into her mother's stomach as Sara comforter her. She made gentle shooshing noises, and reassured her that everything was alright. Nick finished making his coffee, and then leaned back against the counter, studying the sight before him. Carly was really starting to get him concerned now. Once happy-go-lucky, his precocious daughter now scared so easily that she broke down in tears when she spilled cereal.

After a minute or so, she had calmed down again. Sara dried her eyes, poured the excess cereal from the bowl back into the box, poured her milk, and sent her off the kitchen table. Nick cleared his throat a little and met Sara's eyes as she began clearing the mess up from the floor.

"Something's goin' on with her." He said as softly as possible, so Carly wouldn't overhear. His eyes showed concern. They'd seen so much over the last week or so they couldn't deny there was a real issue.

Sara nodded as she scooped the Cheerios up in her hand. "I know." She whispered. "We'll talk later."

The rest of the morning for the Stokes passed quite uneventfully once Carly had settled down again. At least it was Friday, and tomorrow they could all sleep in and not have to worry about the hassle of school. Maybe there was something going on in class that they didn't know about. Was someone threatening her or doing bad things to her? There were many possibilities, all of which scared Nick and Sara more and more. And Carly was doing nothing to soothe their worries, because she wouldn't talk.

CSI CSI CSI CSI CSI

Riley Groves walked down the hallway of Clark High School after her third period class. By Friday, she was always exhausted and ready for a little fun after being cooped up all week doing homework. Only four more classes to go, and she could finally go have a little fun. Then tomorrow, she could sleep!

"Very nice! How much?" The voice of one of her good friends, Cody, asked in a Borat accent from behind her. Riley smiled, but then wiped it away before she turned to her side to look at him.

"Seriously, that's getting old, perv." Riley countered as they made their way to her locker.

"Do you want to make sexy time later?" He continued, earning him a shove in the arm. If Cody knew anything about high school girls, shoving and hitting was a good thing. Riley's amused death glare caused him to hold up his hands in surrender. "Alright, I'll stop."

"Thank you." She told him as they reached her locker. Riley began turning her combination on the dial as he leaned against the locker next to hers. Even Riley was too tired to come up with a witty comeback at the moment.

"So, are you gonna be free enough tonight to take your nose away from those damn algebra and history books and have a little fun with yours truly?" Cody hoped she would say yes. They'd become friends back in middle school when Riley had first moved here, and their friendship had really blossomed in high school. And if he wasn't mistaken, he was developing a bit of a crush on the free spirit.

"Depends." Riley chucked her algebra textbook down on the bottom of her locker, and fished out her AP English novels. "Are you going to be quoting Borat or Monty Python all night?"

"Of course not!" He told her. "I'll be too busy slamming down beer to do that."

Riley raised her eyebrows and shook her head in amusement. Cody was definitely a fan of the booze. "Cody, I'm not getting wasted with you again."

"Why not? Your parents didn't even find out last time!" He pointed out.

"Yeah, but I had to sleep it off until noon which they weren't happy about." She zipped up her bag and shut her locker with a bang. "Plus, I don't want to chance it again. If my dad found out, I wouldn't see the light of day for months."

Cody sighed and followed beside her as she slung her backpack over her shoulder and headed for the English hallway. "So, I'll pick you up at eight?" He checked. Cody was already sixteen and had a brand new car.

Riley let out a dismissive laugh that he didn't take as a good sign. "Yeah, right. It's probably best if my parents don't see you. Don't you remember what you did last time you were over?"

Cody smirked at the memory of her parents' faces. He had been maybe a little too friendly with Riley in the pool outside. Cody admitted he flirted shamelessly, and had perhaps taken it a little too far when he pulled the string on Riley's bikini top. How was he supposed to know that her stepmother was watching from the kitchen window? That had been about a month ago now, and he hadn't shown his face there since.

"Oh, yeah. A slight misstep, but I am known to win the parental units over with some smooth talking and an impressive vocabulary." He bragged as they neared Riley's classroom.

"Not my parents." Riley told him honestly. They remember every little detail about her friends. And while Cody was better than most of the losers she tended to hang out with in middle school, he still wasn't their idea of a good friend for their daughter. He was a smart kid, but needed some…guidance, to put it nicely. Cody only flamed the worst qualities their daughter possessed sometimes. When she hung out with him on a frequent basis, she tended to be mouthier and more rebellious.

"I'll call you!" Cody called to her as she walked the final steps to her English class, the bell already ringing. Riley waved at him and shut the door to the classroom behind her.

CSI CSI CSI CSI CSI

The music blared loudly, creating a thumping through Riley's veins at every drop of the beat. These were the type of parties she lived for. Riley was definitely not the type to enjoy a laid-back, chatty kind of party. She liked the kind where you couldn't really hear, and everyone was dancing and having a good time.

Currently, she was laughing as she danced with several of her friends in the middle of a large group in the living room. It was a relief to finally get out of her house and see her friends. Basically, Riley only saw them during the week at school, and online chatting after her homework was done. She reveled in her chances to let loose like this.

She could feel Cody's eyes on her every now and then. It was obvious he had a crush on her. Riley wasn't sure if she liked him in that way or not. They'd fooled around a little, but nothing serious. Her parents had basically forbidden them from ever becoming a couple because they thought he was a bad influence.

She'd gotten permission to go over to her friend Mandy's house, which wasn't where she was now. Well, she was here _with_ Mandy, if that would ever count for anything. They just didn't know it was a huge party and there was alcohol. Riley was only going to have one drink tonight, but could practically hear her father reminding her she'd still get busted in some way for being there if the police showed up. Her house was only a block and a half away, so she wasn't going to be drinking and driving. Plus, she could make the getaway if she needed to.

Riley suddenly felt a pair of hands on both sides of her hips, and a body up close to hers. She turned her head to see who it was, and wasn't surprised it was Cody. She smiled and they began dancing together, grinding up against each other's bodies. Riley could tell he'd had quite a bit of alcohol, but they were having fun so it was okay. It's not like she was going to have sex with him. Before she knew it, they were sitting on the couch, her in his lap, as they kissed heavily. His lips tasted so good, though she could distinctly taste beer on them. Riley didn't care, though, and they sat there making out for several minutes. She didn't even realize where his hand was until he had cupped her bra underneath her shirt. Riley let out a gasp, but then she heard someone yell, "Cops!"

They were already standing there in the doorway to the living room, observing all that was going on in front of them. Riley gasped again for a different reason, and sprung away from Cody, straightening her top as she did so. She, along with dozens of other teens, sprang for the back door. Riley managed to clear the doorway and took off running towards the direction of her house. It had seemed like such a good idea to drink a Smirnoff, but now she wasn't feeling so hot, and if her parents saw her, they'd be able to tell she was drinking. Shit, shit, shit.

Two minutes later, she reached her front door. She stopped on the porch and took a minute to compose herself. Riley smoothed out her top, ran her hands through her hair, and wiped at her mouth and chin in case her make up was smeared. Taking a deep breath, she opened the front door, and in all her partying, she hadn't even realized what time it was.

She closed the door and walked to the living room to let her parents know she was okay. Her father was on the telephone, and shot her a stern look as he wrapped up his conversation with someone.

"Nah, she just walked in. Thanks again." He hung up the phone and crossed his arms, obviously not at all pleased with his oldest. Riley gulped and hoped he couldn't smell the alcohol from where he was standing. "And where the hell have you been?"


	7. Chapter 7

_A/N: Sorry for the delay; I've been packing and having family visiting. I'm moving back to Indiana next Saturday, woooooo. This is a little shorter than usual, but I thought it was good to have the big fight in one chapter. Please enjoy and review._

Riley swallowed uncomfortably once again, trying not to look at her father's frightening gaze. Sara was now making her way over from the dining room, where she'd been making calls on her cell phone. She let it skid on the counter top and crossed her arms as she joined her husband. Obviously, they knew she wasn't at Mandy's house, so lying about that wasn't going to get her anywhere but into a bigger heap of trouble.

"Um…out?" She tried to be as evasive as possible, though deep down she knew that strategy wouldn't get her out of trouble. They interrogated murderers and rapists for a living; Riley was sure she was just easy game.

"You wanna elaborate on that a little?" Nick raised his eyebrows and shifted his stance slightly, showing his obvious displeasure with his daughter. When she hadn't come home for curfew, he'd made the call to Mandy's house and her mother didn't know anything about a sleepover, and Riley had turned her cell phone off. In short, it had been two hours of his worst nightmare.

"No, not really." Riley said honestly, managing to still have a bit of attitude even in the face of the deep shit she was in. She moved to go back to her room, but her father's voice stopped her in warning.

"You can park it right there on the couch. We have some talkin' to do." He informed her sternly, stepping closer to Riley, and then firmly steered her to a seat. Nick guided her down and had to put a little bit of force into it. He really hoped Riley would be cooperative with them, but sensed it wouldn't be that easy. Most of the time now, Riley was a pretty manageable, happy child. It was when she was in trouble for something that sass and curtness shone its ugly head. She could easily become defensive and mouthy, like the Riley they had been introduced to almost three years ago.

"I know how cliché this sounds," Sara began, standing next to Nick in front of the couch, "But you had us worried sick!" Nick looked at his wife and could tell she definitely did not plan on going easy on Riley. She was pissed.

Riley sighed and studied her purple toenail polish, hoping the lecturing would pass soon and she could just go to bed. Sara continued on vehemently.

"Your curfew is eleven o'clock on the weekends, and it's after one!" She told Riley, in case she hadn't realized. Riley winced and scratched the back of her head. In all her fun, the time had slipped her mind. She guessed she kind of blew that one. "Do you know what we've been doing the past two hours?"

Riley shrugged. Their questions were basically begging her to give them mouthy comebacks. She didn't like the feeling of being handled still after all this time with the Stokes. It was something she'd never gotten used to. "Flippin' out for no reason."

"Flippin' out for a very good reason." Nick corrected her, not at all impressed with her smart comebacks. "You turned your damn phone off and we had no way to reach you. You lied about being at Mandy's house. I called her mom and she knew nothing about sleepin' over. Where have you been, and don't you dare lie to us."

"I was at my friend Casey's house. You don't know her." She picked at her chipped nail polish on her thumb.

"And why's that? You're not allowed to people's houses we don't know." Nick reminded her, as if she had forgotten. That was half the fun.

Riley rolled her eyes. "Look. I'm not seven years old, and I'm not an idiot. That rule is stupid, and you know it. You don't need to micro-manage me."

"I was beginning to think we wouldn't have to either, and then you go and pull something like this." Nick guilt-tripped her. "That rule's there for a very good reason. If Casey was good news, I bet we'd know about her, right? But you lied because she's up to no good. What went on at the party?"

"It was an orgy."

"Dammit, Riley!" Nick snapped, and Riley had to bite her lip to keep from smiling. Sara put her hand on Nick's arm to calm him, but gave her stepdaughter a stern warning look. Riley shrugged at her and looked back at her thumbnail. "If you can't tell already, I'm not in the mood to be messed with, and you're in a huge amount of trouble. If I were you, I'd quit with the cute answers and start spilling."

Riley sighed again, and knew she couldn't tell him the whole truth. He'd probably have a coronary and keel over in shock. "Fine. It was a little get-together, and there was a little alcohol, but no sex. I promise." As if that would soothe his mind.

"How many people were there really?" Nick was already starting to read his daughter quite well, and he knew she was fibbing.

The teen in question let out an annoyed huff and finally met her father's eyes. How did people still manage to lie to him so much all the time at work? If that face wasn't scary as hell, she didn't know what was.

"I don't know. A lot." She muttered.

"And the alcohol. Did you have any?" He stared her down, reminding her not to lie.

"Just a little." She admitted, just as Nick's cell phone rang. He didn't think he should answer it, but checked the caller ID. It was Officer Bradshaw, a buddy of his in the police force. For some reason, he chose to answer it, thinking it was important. And from what Nick was told, he was certainly glad in some capacity he'd called, because it could save Riley from certain danger in the future. After a little conversation, Nick snapped his phone shut and set it on the coffee table.

"Officer Bradshaw just had something interesting to tell me about that party. Do you know what it might be?" Riley hated those type of questions, when she knew he was aware of something she'd really screwed up on, and he was just waiting to see if she'd lie about it. Or to see how much she would really reveal to him without spilling all the beans.

"Okay…why don't you just tell me instead of treating me like a damn mass murderer?" She offered, really hating to play his games.

Nick cleared his throat and whispered something to Sara that Riley couldn't hear. "You have a boyfriend I should know about?"

The eyes rolled for the second time that night. "Oh, did cop of the year rat me out on making out with someone? Oh, that's such a crime!" She stood up, ready for this unpleasant conversation to be over.

Nick simply pointed back to the couch, causing Riley to huff and take her seat again. "You were doin' more than that, apparently. And with Cody Brooks? I thought we made it quite clear we didn't want you hanging around with him anymore."

"Whatever. Are we done now?" She tried to hurry them along.

"No, not yet." He refolded his arms. "Lying multiple times, alcohol consumption, hanging out with a guy you're forbidden to hang out with…" Nick named off her offenses on his fingers.

"Don't forget breaking curfew and turning off her cell phone." Sara reminded him. Riley realized she sounded like a pretty horrible kid right now, but she was just having a little fun.

"Yep. And back talking. Pretty long rap sheet for a girl who's been begging for a sweet sixteen party." Nick pointed out, putting his hands on his hips now as he studied the teen in front of him. He was going to let her have a party? And this was what she did at parties? Of course, he knew she wasn't dumb enough to try half that stuff with him and Sara around, but she was into some harder partying than he'd realized. She'd deceived them, lied, and could have racked up some serious legal offenses. In short, he didn't think he could trust her. And she didn't deserve a kick-ass party in less than three weeks now after pulling this.

"Sorry." She half-heartedly apologized. "I'll never do it again."

"You took it too far this time, Ry." Nick informed her, looking down at his feet momentarily. "You pull stuff like this, I don't see how you deserve a sweet sixteen party." He said honestly, and noted that Sara was shaking her head in agreement. That sure caught Riley's attention, because her head shot up to look at him in worry.

"So, am I grounded until my party?" She checked hopefully, and waited in anticipation.

"Oh, you're grounded alright. And I think you just lost your party." Nick delivered the bad news. She'd gone one step too far this time, and he had to take a stand.

Riley gaped at him in disbelief. "What?!" She almost yelled, standing up once again. "Why?! You can't take away my birthday party! You already paid the hotel!" Riley thought for sure she'd be safe because of that.

"You showed us tonight that you can't behave responsibly at a party. You lied, you drank alcohol, you were with Cody." He reminded her. "Tell me why I shouldn't take away your party, Ry."

"Because it's the only time I'm ever gonna turn sixteen!" She piped, as if it should be so obvious what a rite of passage it was. Come on, who got their sweet sixteen party taken away? Juvenile delinquents, maybe, but she certainly wasn't one. Riley knew he was strict, but she never thought he would go as far as canceling her party. None of her friends' parents were like this.

"Well, you should've thought of that before you betrayed our trust." Nick reminded her, not willing to back down. Sara hadn't jumped in for a while, and he wondered if she was with him on this. He hadn't consulted her on this, but he thought it was a major enough offense to warrant such a big punishment. "My punishment stands. When your grounding is over, you can have a few friends over for a sleepover and cake, but you're definitely not getting a huge party that you obviously don't deserve. You partied enough tonight for everyone combined."

Riley just wanted to cry, and knew her dad would not be backing down, unless Sara could talk some sense into him. She didn't know what to say, because she was so crushed, and the alcohol wasn't helping. A few tears swam in her eyes, and when she looked at Nick, it about broke his heart. He reminded himself she'd brought this upon herself.

"You're a fucking asshole, you know that!" She barked at him and stormed away, on the verge of tears. Nick torqued his jaw at the comment, and Sara put her hand around his bicep to calm him once again. "An ASSHOLE!!" She screamed as she reached her room and slammed it so loudly, the downstairs walls shook from the wrath of the teenager.

Both parents let out a sigh of pent-up breath when they were left alone in the living room. Sara turned her husband to give him a supportive hug. "She's just upset, Nick. She doesn't think you're an asshole."

He shook his head, the words still biting in his mind. "Am I?"

Sara sighed. She wouldn't have handed out such a severe punishment, but it was a bit too late now. "Of course not, but do you think that was a little harsh?"

Nick pulled back so they could talk face to face. Sara's eyes revealed she was serious. Had he gone too far? "How does she deserve one after that? She stepped way over the line, Sar. Way over."

"Well, how much of that was wise father, and how much was a scared one?" She pointed out, raising her eyebrows. Nick dropped his head a little and scratched the back of his head. "I mean, I agree. She went way too far, but are you just angry with her because she's growing up a little too fast?

His frustrated breath showed how clueless he really felt. "I don't know. I'm too angry with her to talk to her anymore tonight." Nick admitted, scrubbing his hand over his face. It was well past their bedtime, and it had undoubtedly been a stressful evening for both of them.

They thought Riley was done, and was sulking in her room, but moments later, she stormed back out, her face red and wet from tears. Nick and Sara's breath caught in their throats, dreading what that angry mouth had to say to them.

"You don't know _anything_, Dad!" She accused him almost hysterically, pointing her finger at him from across the room. When Riley got started, she was hard to stop, and it was her mouth that got her in the most trouble. "I didn't get up to half of what the other kids were doing! And I'm freakin' losing my party? How is that fair?" She demanded more answers.

Sara briefly glanced up the stairs, fearful that the younger two kids were going to wake up from all the yelling. Carly was down for the night, and hadn't gotten up yet for the first time in three nights.

"Keep your voice down." Nick told her firmly, speaking in a calm, but stern voice. "If your friends are getting up to way worse than you are, I really think you need to rethink your choice of friends. You _knew_ we wouldn't approve of what you were doing and you _still_ did it. You broke my trust, and I'm not gonna reward that with a party."

"What makes you think I have the same values as you? Maybe I want to get drunk off my ass and make out with guys!" She spat back at him, knowing he hated the thought of her doing either of those, especially with Cody. A cry was heard from upstairs, causing both parents to sigh and close their eyes in regret. Sara began to climb the stairs to comfort Carly, and Nick quickly crossed the room, leading his oldest to her bedroom by the upper arm, which she fought. He let her go when they reached her room, and closed the door as calmly as was possible.

"I'm your father. I'm trying to teach you good values. Getting drunk when you're fifteen isn't safe, especially around that guy. I don't trust him." In fact, Cody seemed to be his worst nightmare. It scared the crap out of him how trusting his daughter was in Cody, and how quickly she could throw away her values in exchange for a cheap thrill with him. Nick wouldn't be surprised if he turned up at one of his crime scenes sometime in the near future, either as a victim or a perpetrator.

"Well I don't want new values. I liked the ones Mom was teaching me just fine." She took the low blow, turning to walk to her closet with a toss of her wavy brown hair.

"And look where that got her." Nick pointed out, without a second thought. Her mother Laura was not how Nick wanted his daughter to turn out. She had very little self-respect, and not much going for her. Riley was so much smarter than that.

Riley shot him an evil look from where she stood in front of her closet. "You don't know shit about my mother." Her eyes were practically drilling holes through his forehead, the intensity of them, and the obvious protectiveness over her late mother.

Nick realized he may have touched on a sore subject, and decided it wise to drop it. "We're not gonna discuss this anymore tonight. We're both tired and frustrated. If you wanna talk to me respectfully tomorrow, we can. If you're gonna be rude like you have been tonight, you can just stay in your room."

He turned to leave the room, and Riley made ugly faces to his back, not caring how childish it made her look. Her father didn't know the first thing about high school, teenagers, and parties. If she was back home with her mother, or even her grandmother, they'd understand.

Nick left the room and closed the door, leaving his teenager to think about the events of the night. Riley wondered if she did live with her grandmother, if she'd allow her to have a great big sweet sixteen party like she deserved. She knew without a doubt that she would. Her grandmother loved her to pieces, and Riley adored her right back. Tomorrow, she would call her and tell her what an ass her father was being. She would agree with her granddaughter, and talk about the old times and how much fun they used to have.

Riley fell asleep on top of her covers, still in her jeans and tank top, thinking about being anywhere else but here.


	8. Chapter 8

_A/N: Thanks for the reviews! And I am now pretty much moved into my new apartment in Bloomington, so hopefully I'll have more time to write! Please enjoy and hit the little button!_

Riley Groves was pissed to say the least when she woke up the next morning to recall what had happened the previous evening. Her father had actually cancelled her party? Well, it wouldn't be official until he actually called the hotel and cancelled the reservation, but Riley knew he was a man of his word. If he said he was going to do something, he would. She tried to understand his reasoning; she really did. But this was totally uncalled for! I mean, what did he think high school kids did at parties? So what if she said she was going to be somewhere else for the evening? It's not like she was the first teenager to ever lie to her parents just a little bit. He should be proud that she wasn't doing what some of the other kids were doing. Drunk off their asses, groping each other, and Riley was sure she'd smelled pot being passed around in one of the back rooms. What she had done was not that big of a deal. Did he not think that girls her age make out with boys? It was a normal part of development, and he was acting like it was a sin.

Riley sighed as she turned over onto her back, staring up at the pasty white ceiling. She would rather just stay in here all day than to face those looks on her parents' faces again. Though she had a tough as nails exterior most of the time, nothing stabbed at her heart more than what can only described as "the look". She didn't care as much as perhaps other kids did, but Riley hated when her father was disappointed in her. And he'd perfected his look over the years, dealing with all those criminals. Now she was just as bad as them, or at least that's how she felt when those eyes drilled into her face, filled with disappointment and regret. Damn his look!

She heard footsteps nearing her bedroom and a knock moments later. Riley looked at her alarm clock and saw it was almost eleven in the morning. Wow, they'd let her sleep this late. The teen didn't say come in, but Nick opened his daughter's door anyway, stepping inside.

"Morning." He greeted her simply, not sounding at all sincere as he stepped over clothes, books and hats to get to her window. A still displeased Nick Stokes pulled back the white laced curtain to reveal the near noon sunlight, and with one harsh pull, opened the blinds, further dispersing the brightness into the room and Riley's eyes. Riley covered her poor eyes with her arm to shield it, hearing him move about the room again, and let out an annoyed grumble.

"It's past a decent hour." He informed her as he stopped next to her bed. "You've got chores to do."

What that man had against sleeping in on Saturdays, she didn't know. He rarely let her sleep past nine thirty because he said it made kids lazy. Again, Riley didn't see the problem. In response, she rolled away from him on her bed. "Add that to the list of things I don't care about."

Nick cleared his throat. "Does this mean you're gonna act childish again like you did last night? I thought you wanted to discuss things with me like an adult." His arms were crossed, though Riley still didn't look at him.

"I need more sleep." She informed him from her pillow, not wanting to part with it just yet. Gone were the days she used to sleep in past noon at her mother's house. The question of whether Nick would allow it was answered when he stripped the covers off from top of her and gave her leg a couple 'get moving' pats. Riley kicked her legs around and groaned.

"Are you fifteen or five?" Nick questioned, his tone indicating his slight annoyance with his offspring. Riley didn't answer and he sighed. "I'll be back to check on you in five minutes. If you're not out, I'll get you out myself."

Seriously, the guy needed to pick his battles a little more carefully, Riley thought to herself as he left the room, leaving the door wide open. The tired teen groaned and rolled over onto her back again, knowing her dad wasn't kidding. Even though she wasn't in the most obedient of moods, she didn't really want to start her Saturday day off being dragged out of bed by her father. Not number one on her to do list. Riley swung her legs over her bed, rubbing at her face. She managed to find her way into the bathroom despite the sleep in her eyes and the haziness of her vision this early in the damn morning.

Nick sighed from the kitchen, where he and Sara were both making up a grocery list. "Wow, she listened." He commented, feigning surprise. At least he still had some kind of effect on her.

"Amazing." Sara answered as she looked in the fridge for needed items as they both heard the shower starting down the hall.

"I should probably stay here with her." Nick reasoned out loud. "You wanna take the younger two with you?"

Sara wrote down a couple things on her list and nodded. "Yeah. I might take them to the park later. See if blowing off some steam might help Carly. You did set up an appointment with that therapist the Jenkins were talking about, didn't you?"

They had finally decided that perhaps Carly's problem was out of their hands, and they needed some professional help. A family they knew had recommended a particular therapist who had helped their son with anxiety. Finances were tight, but of course they found a way to rearrange things to get Carly the help she needed.

"Uh-huh." Nick told her as he came up behind her to kiss her shoulder and his hands rubbed at her hips. "Tuesday after school."

Sara nodded and smiled as she turned her head to capture her husband's lips in hers. They kissed for several long moments before Nolan came bolting through the living room and tripped, falling flat on his face. Sara anticipated a delayed cry as he lifted his head up from the ground, but surprisingly, the tyke got right back up and ran towards his sister on the couch.

"I'm Darth Vader!!" He threatened menacingly. Both his parents bit back a laugh as Carly scrunched up her face in annoyance. Little brothers were so weird and very random.

Nick gave Sara a final kiss. "At least he's resilient." He commented as Sara looked over her shopping list to make sure she hadn't forgotten anything.

"That he is." She said lowly then cleared her throat to speak louder to their children. "Alright, guys, get your shoes on. We're going out."

Both children seemed excited enough to get out of the house, and went about the business of finding their shoes quickly. Carly seemed to be in a decent mood today, besides the fact she was being tormented by her brother. She was used to that by now.

"Do I get a kiss?" Nick asked hopefully, as if either of his youngest would ever deny him that at this stage in their lives. Both scurried over to their father, and he knelt down to receive a hug and kiss from each of them.

"Daddy, are you comin' with us?" Carly asked hopefully as she hugged him. Nick kissed her cheek and pulled her back slightly.

"No, I'm gonna stay here with Riley to make sure she behaves." He told his middle child honestly. "But we can hang out later, okay?" Nick offered.

Riley seemed to consider the option of breaking down crying for a few moments, as Nick saw her eyebrows furrow and she bit her lip. If that wasn't a cliffhanger, Nick didn't know what was. "Okay." She finally said softly, relieving her father. He kissed her on the forehead again and sent her off to her mother.

"Bye guys, have fun. I love you." He called as they all filed out the garage door for their outing. The door closed and Nick sighed, now left alone in the house besides his foul-mooded teenage daughter. The water shut off in the shower, so he headed off to the laundry room to start up a load. Riley took a few more minutes in the bathroom and then he heard her move to her bedroom and shut it behind her.

Inside her bedroom, Riley sighed as she readjusted her pink towel around her slender body after she turned on her radio. She worked her away around the clutter on the floor to her wardrobe, and picked out a suitable outfit for being grounded on a Saturday. Riley settled on a pair of dark blue lounge pants and a plain white fitted t-shirt. She slipped on a fresh pair of panties and her clothes, then went about brushing out her slightly tangled, wet hair, then expertly clipped it up with her spider clip holder in the middle of her head. Plucking her cell phone from the charger, she collapsed on her stomach on her bed and began thumbing through her phone book for her grandmother's number. Surely, she would understand and agree with her on what a jerk her father was being. Her grandmother always listened to her and seemed to go along with what she was arguing. Well, except that time when she was ten and shaved the letter "P" in the side of her cat Pepper's fur when she got bored. She didn't seem too pleased about that one, and had agreed with her mother's punishment.

The phone rang twice when her grandmother picked up with the reassuring greeting of her voice. "Hello?" It creaked slightly in her old age, another reminder that she was safe talking to this wonderful lady she called Grandma.

"Hi, Grandma. It's Riley." She smiled, resting her head against her pillow once again.

"Riley!" The teen smiled at the sound of how happy she was to hear from her. She loved how special she always felt just from the mere utterance of her own name coming from her grandmother's mouth. "How are you?"

"I'm okay." She fibbed a little, not wanting to unload on her right away. "What are you up to?"

"I was just watering my flowers, thinking of you." She admitted as she emptied the watering can on a bunch of azaleas. She headed for the sliding glass door to go inside and relax while she caught up with her favorite granddaughter. Riley smirked and wished she was there with her. They went through the usual small talk of how school had been that week, and that she had indeed been doing her homework. Audrey could tell, however, that Riley wasn't as peppy as she had been lately. Every time she called, it was all about how excited she was about Butterfield.

"Something's bothering you." Audrey stated, instead of a question. There was no point of dilly dallying around the issue. Riley smiled and rubbed at one of her eyebrows.

"You know me too well, Grandma." The teen admitted as she rolled over on her side.

"Spill it, girl." Audrey ordered her, with that old lady zest in her voice.

"Okay. Tell me what you would do if I did this back at home." She began. "I went to a little party last night instead of being where I told my dad I was at. I ended up kissing a guy a little bit, but that's it, and I had one tiny sip of alcohol. What would you do?" She bit the edge of her thumbnail, waiting for a response.

Audrey had a way of avoiding a true answer when she knew Riley was trying to manipulate her current situation. The little rascal. "Well, I'm guessing you're asking me this because your father punished you for it?" She guessed, thinking Riley was looking to get some ammo to use against her father. Sure, he was a little stricter than she would be with Riley, but Audrey thought it was good for her.

Riley sighed. "Yes, but I wanna know what you would do."

"Well, I'm your grandmother. It's not my place to handle discipline. If you pulled that when you were at my house, I'd lock you in your room and then call your father to handle it." She admitted. No way was Riley going to steer her into the middle of an argument with her father. She had to know that she and her parents were on the same side.

Riley somehow knew she wouldn't get a straight answer out of her grandmother, but she had to try. She knew deep down she wouldn't have been so harsh, and that's what was bugging her about the situation. Many dilemmas in her life had to do with her wondering what would happen if the same situation occurred at home in Tucson. How different would the reaction be? How would the outcome change? Would she be as happy, or as upset?

"Well, what if I lived with you, and you were my guardian?" Riley tried again anyway.

"Riley, I don't answer 'what if' questions." Audrey reminded her, aware of her granddaughter's manipulations. "There's no point, because it's not reality. You acted up, and you got in trouble with your father. That's all there is to it."

She heard a frustrated huff coming from the other end and knew she wasn't giving Riley the answers she wanted to hear. She wanted to say welcome to being a teenager, but thought that would just annoy Riley even more.

"Grandma, I really liked staying with you at Spring Break." She said softly into the receiver, seemingly changing the subject for the time being.

"Well, I liked having you. I always love having you." Audrey answered, running her fingertips around a picture she had sitting out of her granddaughter. She always missed her when she was away.

Just the response she'd wanted. "Really? Cause I was thinking maybe I should spend some more time with you."

"What do you mean by that, dear?" She was suspicious.

"Well, I don't know if I like living here all the time. Maybe I could come live with you for the summer?" Riley suggested hopefully.

Audrey rubbed her eyes in thought. It was great to hear that coming from Riley's mouth, but she couldn't help but wonder if it was a manipulation, or if it were truthful. She might just be upset with her father and saying this on a whim. Audrey was too old and tired to deal with being in the middle of a father/daughter argument.

"I don't know, Riley. Have you spoken with her dad about this?" She checked first.

"No. I wanted to ask you first." And use it against her father.

"Well, that's a big move, Riley. I'd need to talk to your parents about that first, but you know I'd love to have you."

Riley beamed at the response. She quickly wrapped up the conversation with her grandmother, now having some hope to go on that she could spend the summer away from this environment the Stokes had created. And maybe Nick would realize how much he missed her when she was gone, and realize he was way too strict with her. Then, when she returned in the fall, things would be a whole lot better. He would appreciate her more. Riley hung up the phone and heard a knock on her door once again.

"Whaaat?" She answered in annoyance. Nick stepped in once again.

"I thought I heard you talking on the phone." He told her. One of his rules about being grounded was that she wasn't allowed on the phone, unless it was to a relative or for homework reasons.

"Well, gee golly, you were right." She answered smartly, tossing her phone on her bedside table. "Relax, it was Grandma."

Nick felt like she was constantly testing to see what she could get away with. "Fine. The lawn needs to be mowed, and then you can start cleaning out the garage." He saved some of the worst chores for when Riley was in trouble.

"Or not." She countered. "I need to start studying for my SATs." Riley reached onto her bedside table's shelf and pulled out an SAT Preparation book he'd bought her in hopes that she would use it, not use it against him.

Nick cleared his throat and stepped forward, plucking the book from her hands. There would be plenty of time for her to study in the next few weeks since she'd have no social life. "Nice try. Get your butt moving. There's lots I have planned for you to do."

Riley scoffed and crossed her arms. "The SAT's are like, any minute! The garage can surely wait. When is my test anyway?"

"Saturday the thirteenth." He informed her without hesitating, now that it didn't matter her birthday party had been planned for the evening before.

Riley was about to speak, when the dates starting spinning in her mind. The thirteenth – the day after the twelfth, which was supposed to be her sweet sixteen party. What the hell?

"My party's supposed to be on the twelfth. How can I take my test on Saturday morning?" She pointed out to him, still sitting on her bed with her arms crossed, in battle mode.

Nick shook his head. "Easy. You're not having your party, remember?" As if he believed she'd forgotten. Informing her she'd lost her party had been the most dramatic response of her life.

"Whatever! When were you gonna tell me about this?" She didn't like the fact he obviously knew about the conflicting dates and hadn't mentioned it to her.

"Well, it doesn't really matter now, does it?" He pointed out, hoping to skip all the drama she liked to create. "Your party is cancelled, and you'll have plenty of time to rest up the night before now." Nick gave her a matter-of-fact smile upon proving his point.

"The point is you lied to me by not telling me." She accused, shooting him a glare.

Nick let out a humorless chuckle at her claim. "Darlin', there are so many worse things in the world than me not telling you about that. For instance, underage drinking, lying and disobeying your parents…" He started to name off all her recent offenses.

"Ditching your pregnant girlfriend…missing your child's first thirteen years…" Riley started naming off smartly, counting them off with her fingers.

"Hey." He snapped, giving her his worst parental look. "We're not turning this all around. The point is, you messed up, and you need to start taking your punishment like an adult, though you're surely not actin' like one. Those dates are irrelevant now. What matters is you being ready to take your SAT on the thirteenth, and when I tell you to do something under my roof, you do it."

"Well, maybe I don't wanna be under this roof." She spat, glaring at him just as intensely as he was glaring at her.

"Too bad, you're stuck with me." Nick countered, reaching for the doorknob to leave her to sulk for a few more minutes.

Riley rose from her bed, angry that she wasn't getting under his skin like she'd hoped. "Well, I wanna live with Grandma this summer, and she wants me to also!" She threw at him.

Nick turned to look at his daughter, and saw she was totally serious. And while she claimed all this, he highly doubted Audrey had just agreed to let her stay with her this summer without consulting him first. Truthfully, having her away for the summer might be a good thing, the way she was acting lately.

"We'll discuss this another time." He told her simply, not letting her draw him in to another argument. "I better see you outside with the lawnmower in ten minutes. Move it."

With that, Nick left the bedroom, closing the door behind him this time, because predictably she started her angry groaning and stomping moments later, the way she always did when he got the last word. He remembered the advice his father gave him when Riley moved in – sooner or later, teenagers get over their self-involvement and need for thrills, and realize how unreasonably difficult they're being. Until then, you just had to be patient, firm, and consistent. Nick just sighed, hoping this defiant teenager phase would come to an end sooner rather than later.


	9. Chapter 9

_A/N: Thanks for the kind words, and sorry I didn't respond personally this time – this week has been busy! I hope you enjoy this chapter, which is longer this time!! And don't forget to go read the latest chapter of Make Me a Match if you haven't – it has changed to an M rating, so some may have missed it. Enjoy and reviewwwwww!_

The rest of the agonizingly long weekend, Riley spent most of her time in her bedroom or doing laborious, mind-numbingly boring chores for her parents. Being in trouble in the Stokes house didn't mean just sitting around being bored; it meant hard work and zero privileges. She wasn't allowed to drive the car for the first week, no allowance, no Internet. Nothing. And Riley knew she could count on babysitting the younger two whenever they needed her to, which, since it was free for them, Riley imagined would happen pretty much every weekend. When Riley was grounded, she tended to be quite bitter about things, which only got her into further trouble with her regular mouthy comebacks. And, it made her loss of her sweet sixteen party that much harder to swallow.

On Sunday evening, just after nine o'clock, Sara knocked on her stepdaughter's door to say good night. Though Sara definitely thought Riley deserved to be punished for what she did, she did feel a little bad for her that it had all resulted in the loss of her party. As she walked in and closed the door to find the teenager laying on her bed, her head resting lazily off the edge, she realized what sheer boredom she must be experiencing.

"Hey, there." She greeted the teenager, sitting down right next to where Riley was laying, whose face looked a bit red from her current position. The parent in Sara took over the threat of Riley potentially biting her head off, and moved her head back onto the mattress. Riley frowned, but allowed her to do so. She hadn't been very rude to Sara the last couple days, just Nick, because he was the main cause of her boredom. Sometimes, she still considered Sara a bit of an aunt or big sister, who she could confide in when her father was being 'mean' to her. "That's not good for you."

Riley shrugged and played with the hem on her tank top. "It's entertaining." She countered. With no instant messenger or surfing to do, what did Sara think she would get up to?

"You could read a book." Sara suggested, being a regular reader herself, with an array of books in her own collection. She'd learned that Riley really didn't have the patience to sit down and enjoy a novel. It took too long, and she would much rather be out with friends, watching TV, or on the net.

"Or I could just gouge my own eyes out." She stretched her arms over her head, bending them over the edge of the bed, sighing loudly in her midst of utter boredom. Sara was about to tell her to go to bed, when Riley started up the predictable plea. "Seriously, Sara. Do you think it's fair for him to take away my party?" Riley had two days to ponder her punishment, and she still didn't see how her actions warranted what Nick had done. She was in need of even a miniscule amount of pity.

Sara sighed and lovingly stroked some of Riley's hair away from her face, thinking back to when she was a teenager, trying to put herself in her stepdaughter's shoes. Riley knew she'd messed up, but Sara couldn't blame her for being a bit conniving and sneaky. Nick had told her about Riley's little phone call to her grandmother, and they'd even discussed the possibility of letting Riley spend some time over there this summer.

"It's a shame about the timing, Ry, but can you honestly say you deserve a big party after all that you did?" Sara's voice wasn't parental, but understanding and knowledgeable. It was a voice of reason, though it was hard for Riley to listen to again.

"Well, maybe I did some things I shouldn't have." She admitted for the first time. "But, I mean, I make good grades. I do really well in school. Isn't that what you guys want me to do? You're always nagging about homework."

Sara nodded in understanding, still tousling Riley's hair. "Baby, school is a very important thing to us, and I know it is to you, but that's not everything. We want you to be a good person, and it worries us when you do things like you did on Friday." She tried to explain her point. It was true that good grades were one of the most important things, but being a responsible, good, trustworthy kid came above that, and right now Riley was certainly not displaying those qualities.

"I'm a teenager. I'm supposed to do stuff like that." She chipped at the nail polish on her thumb. Honestly, they would be so thankful they had her as a daughter instead of some of the freaks she came across during daily life at high school.

"Uh-uh." Sara said quite decisively, resting her hands back on the mattress. "Maybe when you get to college, some of it will be acceptable, but not when you're almost sixteen. And you can't let a guy take advantage of you like that."

Riley sat up to look face to face at Sara. "He wasn't taking advantage of me. I wanted him to."

"Riley, I know it's normal for teenagers to kiss a little, but do I really need to tell you what's on his mind?"

"I know, sex. But I wouldn't have let it go that far."

"Maybe you wouldn't want to, but do you really know Cory that well? What if he decided he wanted sex? He's stronger than you, and what's stopping him from slipping something into your drink?"

Riley rolled her eyes. "Why do you guys always think of the worst? Not every situation turns into a crime case."

"What makes us think of the worst is that we're parents." Sara went on. Riley rolled her eyes again and stood up, realizing she'd just led her stepmother into another lecture mode. She went to her bureau drawers to pick out some pajamas to wear, hoping to send her the signal to leave. Riley did not like to be lectured. "When you turn off your cell phone and don't tell us where you are for two hours, that worries us, Riley. That immediately makes us fear the worst."

"Well, I can take care of myself." She told her naively, folding her arms with her pj's in hand. Sara let out a disturbed breath. With all she'd seen over the years, all the young women and teenagers who thought they could handle themselves, that they were safe, she knew that wasn't the case. And her daughter, who she'd tried to educate on this sort of thing, was just like any other girl you might run into on the street. She thought she could protect herself. She thought a little mace and some self-defense moves would thwart off any criminal who might try to harm her.

"Riley," She began in a tone that only further annoyed the teen. "You're a strong girl, but not everything you can protect yourself from. That's what me and your father are trying to do."

Riley answered dismissively, wanting this conversation to be over. "Fine. I need to get to bed."

Sara realized Riley wasn't happy with her, but she needed a reality check. She sighed as she stood up from the bed, standing now at the same height as her daughter. "Okay. Good night. I love you." Sara wished her without giving her a hug or a kiss, sensing Riley would not appreciate that right now. The teenager didn't say anything as she watched Sara leave the room and shut the door behind her. It seemed no one, not even Sara, understood where she was coming from. Was it really such a sin to have a little fun? And Cory was not the bad news they thought he was – he was harmless. Riley just sighed and went about her routine of getting ready for bed, actually looking forward to tomorrow, when she could go to school and get away from her family.

CSI CSI CSI CSI CSI

On Tuesday afternoon, Sara sat in the waiting room of Marler and Jenkins Child Therapy office filling out a survey on her daughter's symptoms. Carly was currently in her session with Dr. Jenkins, after a bit of coaxing on Sara's part. The second grader wasn't exactly thrilled about sitting in a room with some stranger, getting asked questions about her feelings. Sara had promised her a trip to the park afterwards if she was a good girl.

The mother sighed as she looked at the checklist before of symptoms for possible disorders. Sara wished she could just check off the least frightening ones; symptoms that weren't so bad, and wouldn't land Carly a diagnosis of some sort of troubled child. However, she knew that wouldn't help Carly, and they needed to figure out just what was bothering her and get her some help. She checked off overly-emotional, timid, and nervous – words that a year ago would never have described her spunky Carly. Something had happened, and for some reason, Carly wouldn't tell them, or couldn't. Was there some biological explanation? Or had something so traumatic happened to Carly she did not want them to know?

Sara became lost in her worries until the waiting room door opened, and out walked Carly – not looking frightened or upset, but just that same sad expression that often occupied her face these days. She smiled at her daughter and stood up, opening her arms up for a hug. Carly quickly crossed the room and embraced her mother as Dr. Jenkins followed her, a clipboard in hand.

"Did you like talking to Dr. Jenkins?" Sara asked her daughter softly, craning her neck to look at her face. Carly simply shrugged and turned her nose in towards Sara's body, a place that was known to be safe. Sara smoothed her hair gently as Dr. Jenkins walked up to her, giving her an encouraged nod.

"Mrs. Stokes." He greeted her, looking fondly at the young girl he'd just had a session with. "Would you like to have a quick word?"

Sara nodded and leaned down to Carly's level. "Baby, I'm gonna talk to Dr. Jenkins. Can you go wait over in those chairs and watch TV?" She requested. Carly nodded and obediently walked over to a set of chairs out of earshot. After watching her go, Sara turned back to her therapist and cleared her throat nervously. She'd never been so scared for Carly's well-being in her life. What he was about to say could change how they lived their lives. What if it was something awful, and Carly was worse off than they thought? What would that do to their family?

"Mrs. Stokes, I had a very good session with Carly. She's a lovely little girl." He began by complementing the woman's child. She was a very agreeable child, and had a pleasant disposition.

"Thank you. Did you find what the problem is?" She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear nervously.

"Well, that's going to take some time." He told her honestly. "It takes time to build up trust with my clients to where they feel comfortable sharing certain things with me. I imagine that perhaps Carly has been experiencing some regular school-aged anxiety, but she's not quite sure how to deal with it."

Sara nodded and breathed out in relief, glad that her child didn't have to have a lobotomy. That sounded manageable, though there would still be much work involved, she was sure.

"Okay. So you think you can help her?"

Dr. Jenkins nodded and smiled. "I think I can definitely help her out. She just needs to learn how to deal with her anxiety."

Sara and Dr. Jenkins shared a few more words, and they both felt very encouraged by the results of the first session. She thanked the man and called Carly back over. On the way to the car, Carly took her mother's hand and squeezed it, feeling safe once again. The therapist hadn't been so bad, but she was glad it had been over. He'd made her think about and talk about things that made her sad, and wasn't sure if she liked that. In a way, it was nice to get it out, but she didn't like being sad. Carly didn't say anything as Sara led her to the car. As they got in and Sara turned the ignition, she decided to probe a little bit.

"So, what did you and Dr. Jenkins talk about?" She asked calmly as she put the car in reverse. Sara sensed that Carly wasn't in the most talkative moods, having just talked to the doctor for half an hour. The little girl sighed after she buckled her seatbelt.

"Stuff." She told her mother simply, looking out the window at nothing in particular – the little kid giggling with his puppy on the sidewalk; the kids playing soccer in the distance.

Sara smirked and looked over at her, expecting slightly more than that. "Can you tell me a little more?"

Carly shrugged, indicating she was not in the mood to discuss things. Sighing, Sara steered the car in the direction of the park like she had promised. Hopefully a little physical activity would put her in a more talkative, contented frame of mind.

CSI CSI CSI CSI CSI

Later on that evening, after dinner had been eaten, Nick caught his wife's hand gently after he'd assigned Riley to do the dishes. She griped once again and gave him a glare, but knew it was in her best interest to just do it. Nick guided Sara away from the children, towards the stairs where they could have a small semblance of privacy. Both had been too busy cooking or caring for the children to grab more than a quick kiss upon Sara's return with Carly. Facing each other, they exchanged a few soft kisses before Nick pulled back, gently rubbing her arms, which set around his hips.

"So how did Carly's session go?" He whispered, not wanting to make the kids worry. Carly was of course especially anxious whenever they talked in secret about something.

"Well." She told him. "Dr. Jenkins said he thinks Carly's just having trouble dealing with normal anxiety, and that he's gonna teach her ways to deal with it."

Nick nodded as she spoke in agreement, but it didn't seem to sit completely well with him. "Don't you wonder if she's been through something she's not telling us?"

Sara rubbed at her brow, frustrated by the last few weeks. "I don't know, Nick. Maybe. I mean, she's always been able to talk to us about things that bother her. What do you think it would be?"

Though he didn't want to bring it up, Nick himself had been pondering the possibility that something serious had happened to Carly. "Well, I hate to say it, Sar, but you know some scumbag adults do or say stuff to kids, and warn them not to tell their parents. Threaten things."

Sara closed her eyes and swallowed in fear. She had been fearing this too, but didn't want to say it out loud. Now that her husband had, it further acknowledged the possibility in her mind. "I hope not." She whispered, with a slight tremor in her voice. Nick sensed her unease, and placed a reassuring kiss to her forehead.

"Don't worry, babe." His low, soothing voice told her. "We'll get to the bottom of this; us and Dr. Jenkins, and we'll get her the help she needs."

He enveloped Sara in a warm hug, rubbing at her back to comfort her. Nick was trying to be strong for her, but he was having trouble himself. He was feeling anger at the moment at the possibility someone had hurt his little girl. He was supposed to protect her, and now she had been damaged. However, he pushed these feelings aside, because right now Sara and Carly needed him.

Speaking of Carly, moments later, they heard the familiar sound of her crying in the next room, which forced them out of their loving embrace.

"Nolan!! Stop it!!" She yelled tearfully at her younger brother. Nick sighed and kissed Sara's forehead, and cleared his throat.

"I'll go see what's up."

Nick walked into the living room to find Nolan doing his favorite 'trick' which he knew annoyed his older sister. He pulled the skin under his eyes down, exposing the red tissue under his eyes, all while making a hideous face. Carly had a pillow over her face as she cried. Nick promptly picked his son up and carried him into the dining room, pulled out a chair and set it facing the wall.

"I have told you many times not to do that to your sister, young man." Nick told his son sternly as he set him in the chair. "You can sit in time out for five minutes and think of a good apology."

He kept it simple, leaving Nolan to cry softly to himself in the time out chair. Nick shook his head as he crossed the room again to tend to Carly. She still had the pillow up, so Nick gently took it from her hands. When she saw her father's caring face, she started crying harder in relief, Nick figured. Moments later, she was sitting in his lap on the couch being hugged and kissed as she calmed down.

"It's okay, darlin'. He was just being silly, but he's been told not to do that." Nick assured her, rubbing circles on her back.

Carly struggled with her breath as she prepared to speak. "I don't like it when he does that."

Nick kissed her head again. "I know you don't, baby. He's in time out, and he's going to apologize."

Carly moaned desolately and continued to sniffle as Nick held her in his arms. Nick decided to try to change the subject. "What did you do at school today, baby?"

Carly sniffed and wiped at her wet eyes. "We got to do a science experiment." She told him.

"You did?" He was pleased he'd gotten her to talk, even if it was one sentence. "What was it about?"

"Tornadoes. We used some soda bottles and made a little tornado in it." Carly was starting to feel calmer now. Her daddy was good at helping her do that. As long as she had him and mommy, she would be okay.

"That sounds cool. Maybe you can show me later."

Carly nods and Nick sees her eyelids drooping slightly. All the emotions of the day always seem to catch up with her shortly after dinner. "I just wanna cuddle." She tells him, snuggling further into his arms.

"That's more than fine with me." Nick whispers, kissing her small, delicate head once again. As his first born, well, at least until he found out about Riley, he had been so enthralled with all her baby features, and how she was changing as she grew. As a baby, he could spend hours just gazing at her tiny body, and marveling at just how small and delicate every part of her was. Her tiny fingernails, her pudgy little arms, her small ears that somehow resembled either his or Sara's same parts. And all those hours of studying her while she slept, it made him so much more protective. He never wanted to see that perfect pale skin bruised or cut; none of those toes stubbed, or fingers shut in doors. Nick never thought he'd be able to let her out of the house unsupervised, but as she got older, she got more curious and he wanted to show her everything. He wanted to take her on her first trip to the zoo to see the animals; take her to the playground; take her on her first roller coaster. Every time she discovered something new, it was like it gave him another wave of hope and love for this tiny being. Every giggle she gave him, every smile, every hug, he savored. He loved being her father, and he suspected she loved being his daughter.

Nick watched her for almost fifteen minutes as she laid there, slowly falling asleep, until Sara came back into the room after having a word with Nolan about his little stunt. She held his and stood in front of her husband and daughter, Nolan looked ashamed and remorseful.

"Is she sleeping?" Sara whispered, and Nick nodded affirmatively.

"You can apologize tomorrow, bud." Nick told his son as he stroked Carly's arm.

"Sorry, Daddy." He apologized to him as Sara had prompted him. Nick thanked him for the apology and then carefully stood up with Carly in his arms. She lay in his arms limply as he carefully steered himself and her body up the stairs to her bedroom. After tucking her into her bed, he planted one last kiss on her forehead and adjusted the covers. He knelt down next to her bed, not able to pry himself away from her just yet. Nick hadn't felt this protective of her since she was a toddler, getting into all kinds of pickles. He didn't think his protectiveness could get stronger over time, but it was. With the awful things in the world he knew about because of his job and tried to protect her from, he couldn't protect her from whatever was bothering her. He wished she would just talk to him or Sara. Or even Dr. Jenkins, though he wasn't completely comfortable with her spilling all the beans to a stranger. If it would help her, he would do it. And what was killing him was that she wouldn't let him.


	10. Chapter 10

_A/N: This is a loooong chapter! Joy. Thanks again to those who are sticking with me! This story will go on probably 3 or 4 more chapters, just to let you know. Please review!_

A couple days later, Nick pulled up in his SUV to the therapists' office where both his girls were going now twice a week. They had tried it out with Carly a few times, and she didn't seem to mind it. The doctor had told the Stokes he saw a lot of hope for the young girl, and that she was slowly opening up to him. Usually, he would wait outside on Mondays for the girls to come out after their sessions, and he would speak with the therapists on Wednesday about how the week had gone. Today, however, the girls were nowhere to be seen, so Nick pulled into a parking spot, turned off the ignition, and stepped out of the Denali. The sweet, spring air brushed his cheeks as he made his way to the front door, hoping to pick up the girls quickly and get home to cook dinner before Sara got home. Nolan was at one of his friends' house for the afternoon, so Nick had an evening with his daughters to look forward to.

As he entered the waiting room of the office, he found that Carly had already come out of her session, and was sitting on one of the chairs, swinging her legs. She soon noticed her father, and looked up at him with a smile on her face. He smirked back at her and sat down on the seat next to his daughter, giving her back a few warm pats. It wasn't such a frequent occurrence to see his youngest daughter smile at him like that, so he was encouraged by it.

"How was your session, baby?" He asked her, noticing that she had a little scratch on her left arm, tarnishing her flawless young skin.

"It was good." She told him, but was never that eager to share with either him or Sara. They got selective answers from her, and most of the information about what had gone on came from her therapist. Moments later, her therapist walked out, followed closely by Riley and her own therapist. Neither of them looked too pleased, and Nick guessed his oldest had not had a very good session. Nick sighed and stood up to go talk to the two men privately. Riley dodged him and his gaze, parking herself on the other side of the room, away from even Carly. Her father's eyes followed her until she sat down with a tired plop, and buried her face between her hands. Nick sighed and looked back at the two therapists.

"Well, Carly seems better, but I'm guessing Riley didn't do so hot today?" He guessed.

Quietly, the two men informed Nick about their time with his daughters. Carly seemed to have had a hard day at school, with some girls that were in her class, and also her softball team. They had talked about it, and what she could say next time if they bothered her again. The second grader had taken to the help very well, and perked up with the new tools she had just been given. Nick smiled at that, but wondered why it couldn't be him that she opened up to, and him helping her think through her problems.

Dr. Jenkins said a quick goodbye to Carly, and she politely waved and said she'd see him next time. Dr. Carlson then stepped forward, clearing his throat before informing Nick about his oldest's session.

"Well, we had a rough day." He started, glancing at the teen, who was still staring at the floor. "She wasn't too cooperative, and seemed to have other things on her mind."

A troubled sigh left the father as he stole a glance at his teenager, who hadn't been the easiest person to live with the last week or so. "Well, I'm sorry she was giving you a hard time. I'll speak to her about it."

"Oh, well let me make it clear." Dr. Carlson moved his hand in an erasing motion. "She wasn't rude or anything. Just didn't feel much like talking today."

Nick nodded, a little relieved he didn't have an attitude on his hands. He thanked her doctor again and then turned to his two daughters.

"Alright, girls. Let's go home." He announced. Carly promptly got off her chair and walked over to him, giving him a quick hug, then decided she would like to hold his hand. He twiddled her attached hand around a little, causing her to giggle as Riley stood up and crossed the room, walking past him and her happier sibling, getting a head start to the car.

"She's being distant." Carly commented as Nick opened the door for both of them, guiding her out towards the car. Nick nodded and let out a single chuckle.

"Is that one of your vocabulary words for this week?" He guessed again. She was always eager to share them with him, especially when she was in a good mood.

The girl nodded and did a little skip as they walked to the car, something Nick hadn't really seen her do in a long time. Slowly, he knew, he was getting his bubbly, happy Carly back, but Nick just wished she would talk to him. It was hard to come to face with the fact that a stranger had better luck getting things out of her than her very own father and mother. But Nick frankly didn't care as long as Carly was happy again.

Riley had been waiting by the passenger door for her father to unclick the locks. As soon as he did, she climbed in, just wanting to curl up in her nice, warm bed, and sleep until her sixteenth birthday. However, she knows that with the report Dr. Carlson gave her dad, Riley highly doubts that he'll let her go nap in her room without at least a small discussion. As he climbs in the driver's seat, and Carly climbs in the back, Riley notes that he doesn't look angry with her. That familiar look of concern is painted on his face, which usually makes for a lengthy discussion about feelings. Riley is in no mood to talk about things today, so hopefully ignoring his questions will clue him in. She feels his eyes glancing at her several times, as he puts the keys in the ignition and buckles himself in. The silence is deafening to Riley, and she just wishes he would say something to clear the air already, just in case he's mad at her and he's in one of those 'too mad to even talk' moods, like when he found out she was skipping gym class last year.

"What?" She finally asks him shortly as he begins backing out of the parking spot, picking her head up from her hand just long enough to give him a questioning glare, like a mere glance of his eyes irritated her skin. Nick glances at his oldest for a moment, checking her expression, confirming that indeed there's a hint of that famous Riley Groves attitude. That's something he would never get with women – he hadn't even said anything, and she was jumping down his throat, asking him to explain his actions. He wondered if she got that from her mother.

"Nothin'." He tells her, in a non-threatening, docile voice, which only further confirms that she's being the unreasonable one here. Nick is being perfectly calm, perfectly mature, and she's going into a little panty-twisting estrogen episode.

Riley looks at him, waiting for him to continue, because she knows it's not nothing. When he says nothing, only shifting gears and pulling forward, she lets out an annoyed huff and shakes her head.

"I know that look. It's not nothing." Though she's only known him a few short years, she's comfortable calling him on his bluff. If he wants to talk to her, she wished he would just get over the little game he was playing and talk to her.

Nick shrugs and keeps his eyes on the road. "Dr. Carlson tells me you had a rough session." He says simply, throwing the information out there, leaving it up to his daughter to elaborate on. He hadn't pushed her; hadn't forced her to explain. Riley seemed to respond better usually when he didn't interrogate her, so to say.

A huff escapes the girl's throat and she stares out the side window in disgust. She didn't like it when adults discussed her without her there. It wasn't fair that she couldn't defend herself, and Riley knew that he was hoping she'd take the bait and start explaining herself now. "Yeah, well, I had a crappy day."

Nick scrubs his fingers over his chin and jawline in thought. A crappy day could mean many things in Riley's book. "I'm sorry to hear that. Would you like to tell me about it?" He asked her nicely, flipping the air conditioner lower before they all froze.

Sure, Riley could tell him about her crappy day, but she'd probably flip out on him, because most of it was because of him, by default. It seemed all her friends and all the cool kids were having parties and get togethers, but of course she was still grounded and couldn't go to any of it. Pool parties, movies, pick-up basketball – all of it she had to miss because her father had been such a strict lamewad. She'd received a C on the English paper she'd worked so hard on, and her teacher wanted to speak to her about it after class. She'd started her period in the middle of History. She missed her best friend Allison back in Tucson. And all of it made her more and more set on the idea of spending the summer with her grandmother, but she would never let Riley come if she knew Nick and Sara didn't agree with the idea. And while she desperately wanted to talk to him about it, she also wondered if it would hurt him too much. Sure, she wasn't his biggest fan right now since he'd punished her, but she didn't really want to hurt him.

A simple shrug is his answer, but moments later his middle child starts spilling to him. "I talked about my crappy day to my therapist, Daddy." She announces proudly out of the blue, having eavesdropped on their conversation.

Nick's eyes shift to the rearview mirror, where he checks that indeed Carly looks ready and willing to tell him about her day, finally. She has that eager look that only a young child can possess, one that disappears at puberty in most cases, replaced by an angry scowl at any question about how her day had gone.

"I heard, baby." He answers, upbeat. "You wanna tell me about it?"

Her little tongue sneaks out the side of her mouth the way she is when she's thinking hard about something. "Uhhh…some girls were bein' mean to me today and I didn't like it." She tells me to begin with.

"They were? I'm sorry." I check her face in the mirror again. She doesn't seem upset about it now. Usually, if she has a problem with a kid at school, we hear all about it – very detailed, vivid descriptions. "Did you tell the teacher?"

"Uh-uh. They told me not to. But I told Dr. Jenkins." She reminds me. I nod and praise her for that, but that part about not telling the teacher raises a red flag for me.

"Hmmm." Another stroke of his hand over his mouth in concern. "Well, do you think you can tell me a little about what you told Dr. Jenkins earlier?"

The seven year old considers it for a few moments, contemplating whether it's such a good idea for her dad to know about what's been bothering her so much. Dr. Jenkins said the best people to talk to your problems about is an adult you trust. Carly trusted her father, of course, but the last thing she wanted to do was to worry him so much. He always seemed so concerned with what Riley was doing, and she did things wrong a whole lot more that she ever would.

"Maybeeee." She tells him a bit evasively, the intonation of her voice going up. It's a playful sound, yet again another sound she has not often made lately, and is music to Nick's ears. He smirks at her in the rearview mirror. Carly beams, always feeling so loved when he smiles at her like that. It makes her heart sing, to know that she can somehow entertain her father without really trying – by just being herself. She knows she doesn't have to impress him, or get all the answers on her math test right, to know that he loves her unconditionally.

"Alright," He smiles while he speaks. "Hopefully I can coax you into sharing a little more with me."

One side of Riley's mouth turns up in a small smile at the way her father talks to her little sister. He's so gentle with her, having such a tough-guy image. And though he always talks to her gently also, there's a certain tone he adopts with Carly and Nolan, that he seems to only reserve for them as young kids. It's a delicate way of talking, kind of like speaking to a newborn in baby-talk. Once the child had surpassed that stage in her life, they would never speak to the child that way again, but just for now, it is okay. It's appropriate. She missed that stage with her father – of gentle coaxing, cuddling on his lap, bedtime stories – all the tender things that her mother and stepfather had never really taken the time to do with her. Riley wonders – is she a bitter, unfriendly person because of this? Nick spoke to her like any caring father would to a teenager – still respectfully, but not with that overly-patient, gentle tone he used with Carly. It's so awkward living all the time with that reminder – that Carly is getting her childhood with Nick, and she would never be able to.

A few minutes later, the Denali pulls into the Stokes' driveway. Nick pulls it into the garage and shuts the engine off. Riley gets out quickly, planning on dashing up to her room, but she slows when she gets inside, listening to how patient he's being with Carly, helping her out, carrying her backpack for her. She decides to stop and get herself a snack in the kitchen. Part of her likes that her father is asking so much about how she's doing, but the teenage part of her wants him to leave her alone. She wishes she was at this stage of life with her dad. Nick was such a good father, really. The perfect dad. Loving and affectionate, but firm and serious when he had to be. At Riley's age, she sometimes just wanted him out of sight and mind. But if she'd known him at Carly's age, she knew she would completely adore him and worship the ground he walked on. She still loved him so much, of course, but Riley was sure she never adopted the look Carly currently had on her face, looking up at her beloved daddy as she walked next to him to the living room. A slight twinge of jealousy crossed Riley's mind. Carly had what she had always wanted at that age – a good father. And when she thought about how she'd missed her childhood with Nick, she got angry that he hadn't founded. She tried not to blame him, but she couldn't help it. He should've known she existed. He should've found her and rescued her.

Riley was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't notice that her dad had since walked into the kitchen to fix Carly her snack. His hand on her shoulder, gently trying to move her to the side so he could get to a cupboard, startled her. When he saw he'd made her jump, his hand moved to her back to rub a reassuring circle.

"Sorry, baby. Didn't mean to scare you." His eyes check her face for any kind of emotion, like he's been doing constantly the last week. Always wondering if she's on edge, or mad at him for having to miss yet another killer party.

"That's okay." Riley says quietly, without a hint of attitude for the first time that day. Her voice sounds to him like she's been doing some serious thinking, which he is correct in. His daughter always sounded a tad sorrowful when she thought deeply about her feelings, but he didn't want to probe, considering the reaction he'd gotten earlier. She flicks her wrist back and forth several times, holding a little pouch of fruit snacks, and considers her options. It seems a prime time to open up to her dad, but part of her doesn't want to give him that satisfaction.

Nick gives her a small close-mouthed smile as he begins to pour some dry cereal into a little Tupperware bowl for Carly to snack on. He's about to turn to leave, thinking Riley doesn't want to tell him anymore, as usual, when her voice stops him.

"Uh…Dad?" She asks, a rare hint of timidness in her voice. Nick spins around and raises his eyebrows, waiting for her to continue. He spies a genuine look on her face, like she wants to get something out, but isn't quite sure how to do it. She opens her mouth to speak, and at the moment, Carly scurries over and tugs on her father's elbow.

"Daddy, come watch Disney with me!" She requests, her eyes sparkling with excitement. Nick looks down at her, with all her enthusiasm, and then looks back over at Riley, who seems to have instantly lost her desire to share whatever it was with him.

"I'll be there in a minute, darlin'." He assured her, and hands the spunky kid her little bowl of cereal. She accepts his answers and takes the snack, then skips back off to the couch. Nick watches her go for a moment, then looks back at his oldest, who is now making eye contact with her fruit snacks. "What is it, Ry? You can tell me."

She seems to briefly consider it, her mouth opening for a moment, but then her front teeth gently clamp down on the side of her lip. "Nothing. I've got a lot of homework to do. I'll see you later."

Before Nick has any time to protest, Riley has rushed past him and back to her bedroom, closing the door behind her quietly. Confusion seeps into Nick's mind, wondering how her emotions can change so suddenly. He shrugs it off for the time being as teenage emotions, but mentally notes that he wants to check on her later, after he gets a chance to finally speak with Carly about what's bothering her.

The father and daughter lounge on the couch together for the completion of one Disney show – _Hannah Montana_. Nick pays more attention to the tiny, sweet giggles that escape his daughter's throat, that have seemed to be in hiding the last couple weeks. He feels like he'll never tire of that sound now, since it had been taken away for some time. When the show is over, and she's through with her snack, Nick reaches over for the remote and shuts the set off, then looks at his second grader. She gives him a small smile.

"I know. Homework time." She tucks her fists into the seat of the couch cushion to push herself up, but Nick gently stops her, pulling her closer instead.

"Let's leave that for a while." He tells her, and pats his thigh. "Come sit on my lap for a minute."

Carly complies, climbing into the safe haven of her father's lap, and is soon embraced by his arm arms, and a sweet, noisy kiss to the head. She giggles and rests her head against his shoulder, sitting sideways. Carly can sense he wants to ask her questions, just like Dr. Jenkins did. She's uncomfortable with the seriousness of the situation, so she absentmindedly starts playing with the collar of his dress shirt, and presses her finger into the tiny off-white buttons that line it.

"I was very proud, and very glad today when I heard you shared what was bothering you with Dr. Jenkins today." He started, giving her an idea of what he wanted to talk about, if she couldn't sense it already. She gave no visual response, and continued playing with one of his buttons, tracing the outline with her finger.

"It's good to share your problems with people, especially people who love and care about you." Nick went on gently, using the most patient tone he had developed as her father. He hoped that if he worded it just right, she would open up to him. Maybe today she just felt like sharing, and he didn't want to mess up his chance.

"And you want me to tell you what I told him?" Carly checked, glancing up a moment at his face, but then back down to his shirt.

Nick watched his daughter and then gently closed his hand around the one that was fooling with one of his buttons. It squirmed a little in his hand, so he let go a little more. "Well, I don't wanna make you, but I bet if you told me, I could help you out even more."

Carly allowed Nick to still hold her hand. "That's what Dr. Jenkins said." She acknowledged.

"Yeah?" He asked her gently. "Well, then maybe it's a good idea. I know I feel better when I talk about something that's bothering me, especially if it's been bothering me for a while." Carly nods in compliance, deciding maybe it would be a good idea to open up to her dad. "You said some girls were mean to you today at school?"

His fingers gently tousle her hair, trying to put her at ease, and remind her how much she is loved. She lets out a little sigh from her nose, the way she does when she's complacent and feeling safe.

"Not just at school." She reports softly, her voice a bit solemn now. Nick feels he might have to pull this out of her a little, the way she's telling him information just bit by bit.

"Is that right?" His hand gently strokes her arm to keep her settled and open to him. "Are they mean to you somewhere else too?"

A couple tiny nods. Her eyes stay straight ahead, not looking up at her father's for any reason. It's easier to tell him these things without seeing the sadness and hurt that will likely result from her sharing this with him.

"At softball too." She admits, chewing on the side of her lip again a bit nervously. "The girls on my team. They're mean to me."

"Which ones are mean to you?" Nick keeps his voice calm, and represses the desire to call up every one of their parents and find out which of those little squirts had been tormenting his daughter. This is his chance to get Carly's story, and he doesn't want to mess it up because of his emotions and protectiveness of his young child.

"Umm…Kelly and Beth and Michelle." Nick looks up momentarily, picturing the three girls in his mind. He'd never quite liked that trio. One game, he was seated near the dugout, and observed them laughing and making fun of some of their own teammates at bat. Nick hadn't heard what they were saying, but their body language and laughter said it all. They thought they were the queen bees of the team, and that the other girls were just there for their amusement. Beth had even talked back to the coach a few times when he corrected her. Nick couldn't stand girls with that kind of attitude, and thought they needed a little reminder about respect.

"And what kind of stuff do they do to you?" Nick braced himself, because he knew when he heard about how they were hurting his little girl, he would want to flip out and take care of it right now. He'd want to call up their parents and give them a piece of his mind. But right now, Carly just needed him to listen and hold her.

Nick listened, and felt his heart beating faster with every word, as she filled him in on what the girls did to her. Sometimes it was just calling her names, but also tripping her in the locker room, making fun of her body, calling her a Daddy's girl, and excluding her from the team, and from other kids at school whenever they were around. Nick was livid that these girls thought they could get away with this sort of thing, but he was more heartbroken that Carly had been keeping this to herself all this time. She'd been suffering in private, though his arms and ears were always open to her. For some reason, she didn't want to share with him. Right now, he didn't need to get into why that was, he needed to get into how to solve this problem for Carly. But first, he needed to make sure she knew how loved she is.

Nick wrapped his arms around his seven year old a little tighter, letting out a sympathetic sound, and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "I'm so sorry that happened to you, baby." His hand rubbed gentle circles on her back, but he heard a little sob escape her. "But I'm glad that you told me, because now I can help you."

She nodded and let the tears fall, relieved that she finally had it all out. Those girls had been horrible to her, and she just didn't want to share because that meant she had to relive it all. Talking about it hurt at first, but she should've known she could trust her dad. It made her feel better now that it was all out in the open, and she knew her father never lied to her – he would help her with this problem, and things would get better again.


	11. Chapter 11

_A/N: So, peoples, I made a rare plot ordering error! I decided to take out the last part of the previous chapter, when Riley gets a call from Allison. That will come later, so pretend like it never happened! This chapter took a while for me to get out for some reason, but I finally finished it! There's a few more chapters left after this. Please enjoy and review!_

"Well, if he bothers you again, don't push him this time." Riley instructed her little sister, after neutralizing a sticky situation between the two. Apparently, Nolan had been tormenting Carly, and she had finally pushed him, causing him to drop his plate. It had shattered on the hardwood floor, and had spilled cheese sauce all over the rug, which Riley was now finally finished cleaning up. She'd put stain lifter on the yellowish spots, and made sure to get all the pieces of porcelain into the dustpan. Both the little kids looked guilty as they watched their older sister pick up their dangerous mess. They both knew their parents didn't like it when they messed around or fought, especially when it resulted in an accident. Luckily, right now, they were out and Riley was in charge.

"I'm sorry." Carly apologized sadly, avoiding eye contact with the taller figure standing in front of them. As a kid, much of her fate rested in the hands of adults, or in this case, the babysitter. "Are you gonna tell Mom and Dad?"

Riley sighed and rubbed at her forehead. While she sometimes dreamed of getting her siblings in trouble when they bothered and annoyed her, it wasn't exactly on her to do list. Plus, it really wasn't that big of a deal anyway. While she was bored out of her mind, seeing her siblings suffer didn't exactly seem as entertaining as it normally would.

"No, as long as you keep quiet and don't fight anymore." Riley decided, taking the dustpan into the kitchen so she could throw it away. Her brother and sister seemed relieved, and went back to laying on the couch watching Aladdin for the hundredth time in their short, care-free lives.

Riley knew she could be over-dramatic sometimes, but after two full weeks of being restricted home, she wanted to put herself in a self-induced coma. Reading got boring fast; she'd even started taking pride in keeping her bedroom in a presentable state, but even that was mid boggingly tedious and boring to the sociable teenager. She'd ever resorted to presenting arguments and cases to her parents about how she'd learned her lesson, but they had not relented. Riley had two whole weeks left until she was free again, but at the rate the hours and days were passing, it seemed it would never come. Tonight, she was stuck watching her younger siblings again while her parents went to a movie. She'd been on a secret phone call with Cody when her sister yelled from the living room, and now she was finally able to get back to her conversation.

"Hanging out has really sucked without you." Cody wooed from his own cell phone at home, thinking of his unlucky friend, on babysitting duty back at her own house.

"Well, at least you get to be around other people." Riley pointed out as she painted her pinky toe a bright purple, carefully balancing the cordless phone between her ear and shoulder. It was nice to know that someone was missing her and thinking about her. And the fact that it was Cody made the butterflies in her stomach flutter happily.

"I'm at home talking to you, aren't I?" Cody smirked from his desk, where he was scrolling through pictures of her on Facebook. He'd been probably not so secretly crushing on Riley since middle school, and while he was outwardly confident with most things, the very thought of Riley turning him down scared the living shit out of him. Cody loved being around Riley, but knew how much her parents disliked him. As he came across a picture of them posing together at someone's house earlier that year, he knew that was the closest he'd ever be able to get to Riley Groves. No way would she or her parents let him close in any more.

Riley smiled at his comment as she perfected her handiwork. "True." She acknowledged, and both were silent for a few moments before she cleared her throat. "I am seriously bored out of my mind. I'm going crazy."

"Then sneak out sometime." Cody boldly suggested. Riley had always seemed like quite the risk taker to him and not one to sit back and let people, even her parents, handle her. Surprisingly, since she started high school, he hadn't known her to get into much trouble with the parental units – but then again, if he had crime scene investigators that knew how to interrogate confessions out of hard-core criminals, he wouldn't take many chances either.

"My parents would kill me and hide the body." She retorted jokingly, but at times when she was getting yelled at, it didn't seem that far out of the realm of possibility.

He chuckled. "Well, what do you have to lose? Your dad already took away your party."

"I don't know what he would do if he caught me trying to sneak out. I got dishwashing duty the other night when he caught me on the phone with Maddie."

"Come on! What's the worst that could happen? Tomorrow night, if I can put together an impromptu birthday party for you, would you come?" Anything to impress her. He could be her personal hero, at least for the evening.

Riley laughed out of unease, but also a flutter of excitement. "You would do that for me?" She asked in surprise.

"Absolutely." Cody immediately answered without hesitation. He felt a rush of pure teenaged hormones, excited by the very thought he had somewhat impressed her.

Riley looked over her shoulder at her door, afraid that with this immensely defiant idea would somehow trigger her parents to appear out of the blue. Her mind raced – picturing like on TV, where a kid faced with a dilemma was being taunted by both a devil and an angel version of herself, perched on her shoulders.

"Ummm, well…" The idea, at its very nature, both excited her and frightened her. She was being punished for this very thing right now, and had even been presenting her case to her parents that she'd learned from her mistake, and here she was seriously considering breaking the same rule. But then again, how lame were they being by not telling her about the SAT conflict, for taking away her once-in-a-lifetime Sweet Sixteen party, and not even letting her out of the house for good behavior once in a while? And she was stuck babysitting her brother and sister, here in the prime of her life, and had to do chores whenever they felt like making her. Really, what's the worst that could happen – getting grounded for longer?

"Sure." She agreed on a whim, be damned with the consequences. On the other end, Cody's heart fluttered with excitement and adrenaline. Finally, he might have a chance with her.

"Sweet. I'll make sure all our friends are there, and I'll have my cousin pick us up some booze…"

"Cody, wait. I don't know if alcohol is such a good idea." She cut him off, and as she did, heard the creaking of floorboards just outside her bedroom door. Her heart immediately skipped a beat, fearing that someone was eavesdropping on her conversation. "Hold on, Cody." She whispered into the receiver as she walked to her door. In a flash, she opened it to find Carly's ear pressed up to the doorway. At the sudden rush of air, Carly's head whipped around to find her older sister glaring down at her, looking thoroughly displeased, but also a bit worried.

"Carly Nicole!" Riley scolded her little sister, thinking she sounded way too much like Sara. Partially, she was relieved that it hadn't somehow been one of her parents, but she had also been caught using the phone, and Carly was known to be a tattle-tale when it came to witnessing Riley doing bad things. Carly's eyes narrowed at her sister in suspicion, not willing to be intimidated, and received an evil glare from her sister as she brought the phone back to her ear. "I have to go."

The phone clicked off, and Riley grabbed her sister's upper arm, pulled her into the room, and closed the door firmly behind her. "Were you listening in on my conversation?"

Carly took a seat on Riley's bed, crossing her arms to make herself look more intimidating. "Yes, and I know you were being naughty! You're not supposed to be on the phone."

An eye roll from Riley. "Oh my God. Who are you? Dad's spy?"

"No, but you're disobeying him and that's really really bad!" Her face was quite serious, naming off her oldest sister's offense. Since she'd been going to counseling, she'd become better at defending and sticking up for herself, which was good in many capacities, but not so great for Riley at this moment. The kid was also way too much of a goody two shoes. She needed to break the rules a little more often – it was quite liberating.

"Yeah, well if you tell on me, I might not be able to keep our little secret about you pushing Nolan and breaking that plate." Riley threatened smartly, putting her hands on her hips. Carly's face immediately lowered and she looked at her feet, which were now nervously nudging each other's. Riley knew she had been victorious. "That's what I thought. You don't tell on me, and I won't tell on you."

Her eyes were met once again by Carly's, filled with worry, but also with the knowledge that Riley was older, smarter, and stealthier than she was. "But you're not supposed to go out at all, and I heard you talkin' about alcohol!"

Riley feigned that her comment didn't bother her. If she spilled even a little, her parents would surely found out the whole truth. "What do you know about alcohol?"

"That it's bad for you." She replied quite decisively.

"It is if you don't know what you're doing. Believe me, I know exactly what I'm doing, and I won't get hurt or caught, as long as you keep your mouth closed about this. Deal?"

The little girl pondered her options for a few moments. She knew it was wrong to keep this from her parents, but Riley had threatened to tell on her, and she really hated being in trouble. Besides, Riley surely knew what she was doing, like she said.

"Okay. Deal." Carly extended her arm and the sisters shook on it, though it didn't feel completely right to either girl. Riley felt bad that her sister would have to practically lie for her, and that she'd blackmailed her into agreeing to the whole thing. Then again, Carly had blackmailed her also.

"Good. Now scram."

Carly left the room to catch the ending of Aladdin before their parents got home, and Riley made sure she put the cordless phone back on the cradle in the living room. She decided not to say anything to Nolan about not telling on her about the phone, but with a three year old, he acted more suspicious when he had a secret. The kid wasn't really paying much attention anyway, so Riley was pretty sure she wouldn't have to worry about him.

Since it was the weekend, Carly and Nolan were allowed to stay up a little later, but when their parents got home at about ten, they knew it was time to hit the sack. They both ran to their mom and dad when they came through the garage door, but Riley remained with her legs draped over the couch arm, channel surfing.

"Was the movie good?" Carly asked them politely, as she was picked up by her father and given a kiss on the cheek.

"It was very good. We liked it a lot." Nick told her as Sara scooped their sleepy son up, who immediately rested his head on her sleeveless shoulder. "Were you a good girl?"

She glanced momentarily at her big sister, but Riley didn't budge her eyes from the television screen. "Yes, Daddy." She assured him. Nick caught her slight hesitation, and how she checked with her older sister first, but decided not

to push anything. If something had happened, he didn't doubt it had been resolved, or that it wasn't that big of a deal. Carly tended to be a big worrier, even about the tiniest things.

"Well, good." He kissed her head again and moved to set her back down on the ground. "Why don't you go brush your teeth and I'll tuck you in."

Carly nodded and scampered off to the stairs to do as instructed.

"Did you have any problems, Riley?" Sara asked their oldest as she sat on the couch with their toddler, to settle him down for bedtime.

"Nope, they were good." She told them, flipping the channel to the news, because she knew her parents liked to watch it whenever they got home. Her father went into the kitchen to get a glass of water.

Sara knows it will annoy her, but she asks anyway. "And were you a good girl?" She asks with a bit of tease to her voice, because even though Riley sometimes acted it, she definitely didn't treat her stepdaughter like a child.

Shaking her head in amusement and allowing a tiny smile, Riley meets Sara's eyes, showing her amusement at her tone. "Yes, Sara." She jokingly sasses her as Nick steps back into the room, chugging down some ice water. Slowly, he walks closer to where Riley is sitting, and she can't help but feel like he is watching her, checking to see if she really had been as 'good' as she was letting on. Letting out a prolonged 'ahhh' after he'd finished his gulp, he then leans down and kisses his oldest daughter's forehead.

"Thanks for watching the kids, Ry." He tells her thankfully. He doesn't sit down, because in moments he'll need to go tuck Carly in to bed, which makes Riley feel better. She knows he won't be asking her lots of questions, which will reduce her risk of slipping up.

"You're welcome." She tells him a bit dismissively, more interested in the sports update on the news. "How much am I getting paid?" She smirks, knowing she's not getting any money for this. Working for free is a part of being grounded in this house.

"Ha ha." Nick tells her in good humor. They talked about Riley on the way home, and had decided they were pretty impressed at how she was acting these last few weeks. She did what they asked her to do, and hadn't had any slip ups besides being caught making a phone call once, but that wasn't exactly major. They were actually considering her pleas with them to shorten her punishment. "You stayin' up much longer?"

"Yea, I wanna watch Letterman." She told him, keeping her eyes still on the TV. Nick nodded and looked at his watch.

"Well, don't stay up much later than that. I'll need your help with some things tomorrow morning."

"Wonderful." She mocked delight, knowing he had some laborious task for her to do. Funny how they saved the worst chores for when they had someone else to do them. "I'm not getting up before ten."

"We'll see." He tells his daughter, giving his wife a little wink when he sees that Nolan has pretty much fallen asleep in her arms. Nick ruffles Riley's hair playfully, then proceeds upstairs to put Carly to bed. The teenager just sighs and puts her attention back on the news, when she notices that Sara is watching her as she soothingly rubs Nolan's back. Riley steals a glance at her, and is somewhat encouraged, but confused, at the satisfied smile on Sara's face.

"We're proud of you, you know." She tells her stepdaughter, seemingly out of the blue. This whole time, she's been thinking about Riley, and how she's been doing the last few years. Really, she's come a long way from that defensive, scared girl that came to live with them when she was thirteen. She messed up every once in a while, like all teenagers do, but she was making good grades, and got along with everyone in the family most of the time.

Riley doesn't see how this could be the case. "Why?" She wonders out loud honestly. Sure, Sara didn't know that she was now planning on sneaking out the next night, but she hadn't exactly been the most wonderful child the past few weeks. Proud wasn't the first word she'd use to describe how her parents probably felt about her. More like annoyed or disappointed.

"You've been handling yourself well the last couple weeks. You could still be really bitter about being in trouble, but you're being very mature about it. And we're proud of you for that."

The look on her face makes Riley feel a bit uncomfortable, at how much love seems to be there. Does Sara know what she's up to, and trying to guilt trip her into confessing? Why else would she be complimenting her behavior? It's not like she'd been all sweetness and light, willing to help out whenever they needed it. It's because she had to.

"Oh. Thanks." Riley answered simply after a few moments of uncomfortable silence. Sara nods and shifts her attention to her now sleeping son. She can sense she's made Riley a bit uncomfortable, but as a parent, she likes to make sure her children know how much she cares, and that she's paying attention to their good deeds.

"Well, I'm gonna go put this one to bed." She says, groaning a bit at her son's growing weight. Sara stands after a moment's struggle, holding Nolan like the big baby he is. "Your dad and I are just gonna hit the sack, too, so can you make sure you turn the lights off when you're done?"

Riley nods and gives her a small smile.

"I would kiss you goodnight, but I might drop Nolan on you."

Riley lets out a small giggle and nods in understanding. "That's fine. Night."

"Goodnight." Sara tells her, and Riley watches her walk up the stairs with Nolan cradled in her arms safely. As she leaves, a strong pang of guilt seeps throughout her body; that kind of feeling you can't really shake off until you tell the truth. Though, like most teenagers, she sometimes acts like she doesn't care what her parents think, and that she has no problem lying and disobeying them, her plans for sneaking out does bother her. And the fact that Sara seemingly has so much trust in her makes her feel even more guilty. She's actually proud of her? For being grounded? Riley wasn't sure if she felt all that good anymore about deceiving them. It just felt wrong, if Sara had so much trust in her, to take advantage of that.

But Cody was going out of his way to put together a kick-ass last minute party for her. It would be lame for her to back out now. Her parents had taught her that it was rude to stand people up if they were expecting you. But, who was she kidding? It was wrong to sneak out, especially when she was already still in trouble. And it was wrong for her to blackmail her little sister into not telling on her. As Riley laid down to go to sleep that night, long after she'd turned off all the lights and made sure the doors were locked, her dilemma kept popping up in her head, no matter how hard she tried to think about other things. Was one birthday party really worth losing her parents' trust for good?


	12. Chapter 12

_A/N: Thanks again for the reviews! I actually wrote a 20 page document today, and this is only about the first 10. So, there's another brand new chapter just waiting to be added. The faster you review, the faster I'll post, b/c reviews are my cocaine. Hope you enjoy! _

Riley awoke the next morning to that uneasy feeling you get in your stomach when your conscience is bugging you. She knew she was going to do something she wasn't supposed to that night, and the more she thought about it, the guiltier she felt. Was this what it meant to be an adult – to know something was wrong before you did it? If it was, then being an adult must be no fun! Riley wanted to live. She wanted to go to parties, and go on dates with hot guys, but was one party really a big enough deal to have her parents disappointed in her yet again?

The teenager turned over in her cozy bed onto her side, and pulled the comforter up even farther as she heard Carly yabbing in the kitchen, with some light music playing in the background her parents must have put on. She had a pang of worry in her gut that Carly would break her promise and spill the beans to their dad. And maybe Carly didn't know, but she would be in a hell of a lot more trouble than she was. Luckily, Carly was quite the obedient child, and the mere threat of punishment was usually enough to sway her from tattling.

Looking at the clock, Riley saw that it was a little after nine. If she didn't get her ass out of bed soon, she knew her dad would be getting on her case, and that wasn't how she wanted to start her Saturday. Well, maybe if her dad was being an ass to her this morning, that could help her validate sneaking out. Then she wouldn't feel as crummy hopping out her downstairs window, then grabbing a ride with Cody to wherever. Riley realized, that if she did go, whether she got caught or not, she would still feel equally bad.

Sighing, the nearly sixteen year old threw her covers off her body, rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, and slowly rose with a big cat stretch. Her tank top was a bit too chilly in the morning air, so she grabbed a long-sleeved shirt to pull over top, then slipped on her pink fuzzy slippers. As she pushed her door open, she could hear Carly giggling about something. Still looking through groggy eyes, she reached the kitchen to get a soda out of the fridge, able to make out three fuzzy figures standing around.

"Morning, Riley." She heard Sara greet her from where she was doing a few dishes in the sink. It smelled like they had made some oatmeal. They hadn't asked her if she wanted any, but then again they all knew she hated oatmeal, even the flavored kind. Her mom always used to make her eat it in elementary school.

"Morning." Riley replied groggily as she managed to retrieve a Dr. Pepper and snap it open. She let the cool fizzy liquid sizzle in her mouth for a moment before swallowing it down. It always helped take away her disgusting morning breath. She always thought it was revolting, people who kissed in the morning before they brushed their teeth.

Out of nowhere, an arm closed around her shoulders, and she was pulled into a half hug by her father. "I was about to come get you." He informed her, then kissed the top of her head sweetly. There was nothing mean about his voice this morning, like the only reason he was wanting to wake her up was to make her do chores. He seemed genuinely happy to see her this morning.

"Why, so you can put me to work?" She checked, her voice displaying a tad bit of humor, but also a tone that hoped to get her a bit of pity. They'd been working her hard these past couple weeks, making her their personal slave, practically.

Riley could now see pretty clearly through her eyes, and processed the look he gave her. "No. Can't a man be happy to see his daughter?" He pulled her in for a warmer hug this time, patting her back a little bit. Nick was always afraid that when his kids were in trouble, they'd think he didn't love them as much. This morning, he was in such a good mood, and wanted to show his whole family just how much he loved them.

"I guess. So does this mean I don't have to help you today?" Riley asked hopefully, wanting to take advantage of his really good mood. Even a day off of manual labor around here would be a gift.

Sara chuckled from her place at the sink. "I don't know, Sar. What do you think?"

"Up to you, babe." She called over her shoulder. Carly had been quietly observing the conversation around her. She knew that Riley definitely did not deserve to be cut any slack, but she had promised not to tell. And Carly, for one, did not want to ruin her dad's good mood by getting her sister in trouble.

Riley didn't expect to be taken seriously, so she was surprised by their conversation. Her dad patted her on the back again and looked at her. "We were talkin' actually. You've been very good this past week, so we've decided to take one week off your sentence."

Riley's eyebrows jumped up in surprise. Here she was, plotting to sneak out yet again, and they were trusting her enough to take a week away from her punishment? Talk about guilt. Did they secretly know her plan, and were doing this just to make her feel bad and confess to them? Riley quickly looked at her little sister, but she didn't look like she'd just spilled a secret.

"Really?" She checked, looking back and forth between her two parents. Sara was smiling a little, wiping her hands dry on a towel.

"Yeah. You haven't complained, you've watched the kids for us plenty of times. The way you're actin' seems like you've learned your lesson." Nick went on. A parent's main goal with any child is to have him or her turn into a happy, productive, good human being. It was expected for a teenager to mess up sometimes, but as the two parents talked last night, they came to the conclusion that Riley was almost there. Sometimes she was a few French fries short of a Happy Meal, but all around, she was a good kid.

"Wow." Riley stumbled, taken aback. "Um…thanks."

"You're welcome." Nick told her, noticing how surprised she seemed by this, but chose not to say anything. Instead, he gave her another kiss on the forehead and then picked up his cup of coffee from the counter to take to the living room.

"Momma, will you do my hair in braids today?" Carly wrapped her arms around her mother's waist, in a cuddly mood this morning. It was somehow soothing to have someone else play with or do your hair, she'd found, and her mother was her favorite. Her daddy really didn't have any idea what he was doing, so she never went to him. He was still good for just cuddling, though.

Sara tousled her daughter's hair as she thought about it. "I don't know, Carly. You have a game later. It's gonna get messed up."

Carly shrugged. "I don't care."

Sara continued to run her fingers through the dark brown, chestnut hair that was so similar to hers. The child it belonged to buried her face further into her stomach, something she had always done. Carly had always been a somewhat hesitant child, always held back by the chance of doing something wrong. She wasn't always a clingy child, but throughout her issues this year at school, she had been. Each day now, she was getting less and less so, not needing her parents as much any more. It made Sara proud that Carly was dealing with her problems better now, but she couldn't explain why she felt a bit sad that she didn't need her as much anymore. Sara loved being a mother, and having another human being who relied on her and loved her so much, which was odd because she never really wanted to be a mother until later in her adulthood, when Nick talked about it so adoringly. It was funny to think about now, how he so desperately wanted to be a father before Carly came along, and he unknowingly had been for several years.

"Alright. Go get the hairbrush." Sara instructed her, giving her a tiny supportive push in the right direction. She smirked as she scurried off, still in her pj's, but it was perfectly fine since it was the weekend and they didn't need to be anywhere until later. Sara walked towards the living room, where the rest of the family was hanging out now. Nick was reading the paper and sipping his coffee, with Nolan at his feet eating something. As she looked closer, Sara soon saw that he was eating Carly's banana-flavored Lip Smacker.

"Nick!" She called worriedly. Nick looked up at his wife and saw the look on her face, then followed her line of sight down to their son. The father quickly snatched the tube out of Nolan's grasp, momentarily not thinking about the slobber he now had all over his hand.

Nolan whined, because it had tasted really really good. He saw Carly using it all the time, and it smelled delicious. If she smeared it all over her lips and licked it off sometimes, surely it must be okay to eat.

"Nolan Thomas Stokes." Nick scolded his son in a firm voice, but anyone could tell he was trying not to laugh. The three year old licked his lips, making sure he got every last bit of that banana-y goodness. Sara sighed and held her hand out for Nick to pass the ruined Lip Smacker to it to throw away. "Why'd you do that? That's Carly's, not yours."

"Can I get my own?" He requested.

"No, you may not. You'll get sick." Nick told him, shaking his head, but Nolan smiled up at him. Just then, Carly returned from upstairs with the hairbrush and two hair ties. The looks on everyone's faces didn't escape her. She immediately looked to her mother for an explanation.

Nick and Sara were slightly afraid that she was going to get upset and have a little break down upon the news, however, when Riley informed her what happened, she just gave her brother a look, like he was an alien, and shook her head. She was slowly getting back to her normal self, it seemed.

"Carly, you better hide your other ones." Riley advised her, her legs propped up on the couch arm. "Don't you have one that's Dr. Pepper flavored?"

Carly settled herself on the edge of one of the couch cushions as Sara settled herself behind her and began brushing the tangles out of her shoulder-length hair. Sara was feeling in a bit of a mischievous mood this morning, so she leaned in close to her husband's ear, smiling.

"Well, if we need to watch out for Nolan eating flavored stuff, I know something in our bedroom we better hide."

Nick snickered and felt his face blush slightly. He turned his head and kissed Sara right next to her ear. "That would be a shame, baby."

Riley was currently frozen in pure disgust. "Okay, eww!!" She finally gasped, looking at her parents in a repulsed manner. "I have ears, you know!"

The other two were oblivious to know what they'd said was so disturbing, but Riley was thoroughly disgusted. The two adults smirked, finding it somewhat funny they had managed to embarrass her. It's not like they had gone into all the details.

"Do you Lip Smackers too, mommy?" Carly asked innocently. "What flavors do you have?"

Riley theatrically began to gag and pretend to upchuck as she stood up to go elsewhere. She did not need that mental picture. Nick and Sara both laughed at her as she continued to brush out Carly's hair.

"I don't think you'd like the kind I have." Sara informed her smirking. Carly sighed. Did they think she was stupid?

"Are you talking about sex?" She asked them bluntly.

Nick almost spurted the coffee he had just sipped out of his mouth in surprise. That was not a word he ever wanted to hear out of her mouth.

"Carly!" They both scolded her immediately, and Sara gave her bunched up hair a light pull. Carly laughed and Riley just shook her head as she made her way back to her bedroom. She loved her family. She really did. And it was times like that she remembered why. They were so easy to joke around with, though she hadn't quite enjoyed the topic for today. Her dad and Sara really were good human beings. They looked out for their children, and just wanted what was best for all of them. Her father was strict, but Riley was starting to realize he was also very fair. He didn't get on her back about unimportant things. He was strict about the right things, and gradually, Riley was earning a lot of respect for that.

Riley closed the door to her bedroom and sighed out contentedly. She focused on a spot on the floor, nowhere in particular, and thought about what she had planned for tonight. Did she really want to disappoint parents who trusted her like they did right now? The parents who looked out for her, even when she wouldn't look out for herself? In an instant, Riley had made her decision. No. She didn't want to sneak out to this party. Sure, it sucked to miss another party, but it wouldn't be the only one in her life. She still had plenty of parties and gatherings to look forward to, and her parents were just trying to make sure she lived to see all of them. Was that so bad? Turning on her heels, Riley walked back out to the living room, where Carly was cackling about something else now, and made a request.

"Dad, can I use my cell phone really quick to make a call? It's really important, and I'll only be five minutes."

Nick looked up at his teenager, growing up before his very eyes, and could tell whatever it was was important to her. He could usually tell if she was just being whiny or childish about something. The look on her face told him this was indeed important.

"Okay." He nodded. "Your phone's in the linen closet."

Riley smiled and thanked him, and went to retrieve her hidden phone. Nick knew he'd have to change his hiding spot now that she knew, but hopefully he wouldn't have to confiscate her phone much more. Soon, she found it and took it into her bedroom, closing the door behind her. She scrolled through her phonebook, and found Cody's name under the C's. She hit dial and waited for him to answer. Predictably, he answered very quickly.

"Riley! Hey, your party tonight's gonna be off the hook! This friend of mine has a…"

"I'm not coming." She cut him off, more sure of her decision now than she had been about anything in her life. "I mean. I'm sorry you went to all the trouble, but I don't want to lie to my parents again."

An uncomfortable silence hung over the phone for several prolonged seconds. "Cody?" She checked if he was still there.

"Yeah, I'm here. You…you're not coming?" He checked.

Riley sighed decisively and held her head up high, though no one was there to actually see her. "No, I'm not. I hate deceiving them. I'm sorry you did all that work for nothing."

Cody let out an almost disgusted, annoyed snort. "Well, we're still gonna have the party, even if you're not there." He informed her, bitterness in his voice. "Bye, Riley."

The line went dead and Riley shook her head, sighing, as she looked at her phone. "Asshole." She muttered. Before, she would have been hurt that Cody was mad at her, but she realized that she really didn't care. If he didn't understand why she didn't want to sneak out, then maybe he wasn't such a great friend after all.

CSI CSI CSI CSI CSI


	13. Chapter 13

Several hours later, Carly was sitting in the dugout at her softball game, just hoping that she wouldn't get called to bat very much. The worst was when she had to be in the outfield, or at first base, when she had to worry about catching the ball. She hated the pressure of being relied on to catch a stupid ball. She didn't care about this stupid game. Her two friends had joined, and that's the only reason she had. When this season was over, Carly was definitely going to move on to something else.

Angela, one of the mean girls, was sitting just a few bottom-widths away from her on the bench, and Carly realized she was staring at her. She turned her head to see a rather amused look on her teammate's face.

"What?" Carly asked her.

"Oh nothing." She shrugged, obviously about to say something. "I was just admiring your pigtails."

Carly studied her for a few moments, sensing she was not being sincere about her comment. "Thanks." She said suspiciously.

"I mean, it's pretty gutsy that you'd come to a softball game with those things. Who are you, Pippi Longstocking?" She referenced the fictional character with red hair and pigtails that stuck out to the side.

The girl sitting next to her giggled loudly, making a futile attempt to mask it. "Yeah, it's not Halloween for, like, seven months."

Carly felt her face turn red with embarrassment, and anger that those girls just thought they could make fun of her. Why was she such an easy target? Did she just look like someone that would be easy to pick on? They didn't bother the other girls, only her! She closed her eyes and thought about what her therapist had told her to do when the girls started making fun of her.

"You know, I don't like it when you make fun of me." She told them, trying to hide the tremor in her voice.

The two girls stopped laughing and looked at her, wondering if she was actually serious. After a few moments, they burst out laughing once again. "Oh my God! Did you see the look on her face?" Angela said.

"I'd like you to stop." Carly said bravely, but the girls just continued to laugh at her. Some of the other kids were looking now too. Angela reached out and took hold of one of her pigtails, and began to jiggle it around. Finally, Carly snapped. She turned her little body to the side and gave Angela the hardest push she could muster up.

"Hey!" Angela protested. The coach had picked the exact wrong time to look at his team on the bench, and had witnessed Carly pushing her teammate. Since Carly was such a quiet kid, and he didn't know her very well, he assumed she was the one causing trouble, and rushed to judgment.

"Stokes!" He yelled at her. Carly cowered and felt her eyes well up with tears. "I'm not gonna have that on my team! You're out the rest of the game."

Carly had never been in trouble with anyone but her parents before, so she felt like the worst piece of scum on earth. Only really bad kids got kicked out of games. Her face reddened, and she heard Angela and the other girl laughing at her. She just wanted to go find her parents, but now she was afraid that she'd be in trouble with them too. Surely, they would side with the coach. They always sided with the adults.

Luckily for Carly, Nick had been watching the whole thing. He stood up from his place in the stands, and told Sara to load Nolan up in the car to go home. He worked his way over to the dugout and walked up to the gate.

"Carly, c'mere." He instructed her. Carly didn't know it was the coach he was upset with and not her, and immediately burst into tears. However, she stood up bravely and obediently, and slowly walked to where her father stood in the doorway.

"Excuse me, Coach Latimer." He called his name. The coach turned around to look at Nick. "I think you missed the fact that Angela and that other girl have been making fun of my daughter for the last five minutes. Carly pushed her in self-defense."

Coach Latimer just chewed his gum and studied the tall, square-jawed man. He then narrowed his eyes at the other two girls in question. "Girls?" He asked them, waiting for an explanation.

"Sorry, coach." They both mumbled.

He shook his head. "You can both sit out also. But Mr. Stokes, my decision still stands. I'm not gonna have pushing in my dugout. Carly's out."

"Then I'm pulling her off the team. You should find a better way to look out for some of the quieter girls on this team." Nick took his daughter's hand and squeezed it, letting her know he had her back. "Let's go, darlin'."

Carly sniffled as Nick started walking quite briskly towards the parking lot, not looking back. She was quite relieved that he seemed to be on her side, but still in the back of her mind worried she was in trouble. This had happened before – that he'd stuck up for her, but when they got home, found out she was still in a world of trouble. This time was different though. Those other girls were being really mean to her. Her father had been stressing to stand up for herself, but Carly knew that pushing wasn't the best way.

"Daddy, I'm sorry." Carly sobbed for good measure. She really was sorry, but it felt good to stick up for herself. Actually, she was quite proud of herself.

"I know you are, sweetie. We'll talk about it at home." Nick told her, his voice low, fighting to stay calm. He wasn't mad at Carly, of course, but at how the coach was handling the team. Carly was the sweetest girl you could ever meet, and she couldn't even enjoy being on a softball team because her coach wouldn't look out for her.

"Are you mad at me?" She sniffled worriedly.

Nick slowed down a little and let go of her hand, and put his arm around her shoulders instead. "Carly, I'm not mad at you." He assured her. "Pushing is not my favorite thing, but Angela was picking on you, which is not okay. We'll talk about more at home. We just need to leave."

Carly nodded and sniffled still all the way to the car. He opened the door for her wordlessly, and her mother turned around to check on her.

"Carly, are you okay, sweetie?" She reached out and patted her knee supportively.

"No, I got in trouble with the coach!" She started bawling again as Nick closed the door and walked over to the other side of the car.

"What happened?" Sara reserved her judgment, because Carly was not the type of kid who got in trouble with adults…at all.

Carly choked on her sobs as she tried to compose herself enough to explain. Nolan looked at her with a certain amount of awe. It was hard to look away when someone was so obviously upset about something. As a three year old, he almost had to just watch. "An…Angela was makin' fun of me and she grabbed my pigtail, so I pushed her, and the coach said I couldn't play!"

It wasn't so much that she couldn't play – she couldn't care less about that – it was the fact that an adult wasn't happy with her. To Carly, that was the worst thing in the world.

"Ohhhh, I'm sorry they were picking on you, Carly." Sara said soothingly, rubbing her daughter's leg. Nick got in the car and looked at his wife, obviously displeased. He put the keys in the ignition and pulled out immediately. Sara sighed and looked again at Carly. "We'll talk more at home, okay?"

Carly nodded and wiped at her wet face, trying to calm herself down more. Her mother didn't seem angry with her either. Nick and Sara began to share a hushed conversation in the front row about what had happened.

"Nick, you're not mad at her are you? She was getting picked on." Sara whispered, afraid he was angry with their daughter.

"No. It's the coach I'm pissed at. Carly's gettin' picked on and he does nothing about it. When she takes it into her own hands, she's the one that gets in trouble."

Sara reached over and rubbed his bicep, trying to calm him. It didn't seem right, but there was something appealing about Nick sticking up for his kid. It warmed her heart somehow, to see that Nick understood his daughter so well, and that she wouldn't push someone without a valid reason.

"It'll be okay. We can talk more later." She assured him softly as he sped a bit down the road.

"Yeah." Nick looked over at her for a moment and patted her hand on top of his arm. He then kissed it and took a deep breath, feeling a little calmer now.

Ten minutes later, they had parked in the driveway. Carly slid out of the car silently and meandered her way into the house, bummed by the way her afternoon was turning out. She felt her father's hand on her shoulder, and he gave it a light squeeze. He didn't do that when she was in trouble, so that was a good sign. Once they were all inside, Sara set up Nolan in the living room with a snack and some juice, and Nick took his youngest daughter up the stairs, pausing for a few moments to say hello to Riley in her bedroom. He led her to sit on her decidedly girl bed, and he was reminded again how out of her comfort zone she was in the first place playing softball. Nick knelt down in front of her to be closer to her eye level, placing his hands on either side of her.

"Do you still think you're in trouble?" He asked, noting how worried she looked, and how she was on the verge of tears. She nodded wordlessly and rubbed her eyes as she waited for him to continue.

"Well you're not, really." He assured her. "What those girls were doing was not fair, and it was downright mean. And I'm proud of you for sticking up for yourself."

"But I pushed her and you don't like it when we use violence." Carly pointed out, remembering every lecture he'd ever given her vividly.

"Yeah. And you probably shouldn't have done that." He acknowledged. "You could've gone up and told the coach, or tried to ignore her." Nick paused. "But I understand why you pushed her. I saw what she was doing to you, and I know that doesn't feel good."

"No it didn't." She whispered, looking down at her feet.

"Do you wanna play softball anymore, baby?" He posed. "And don't think about what your friends think, just you. Do you want to play softball?"

Carly paused and shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. I don't like it that much."

"No, you don't seem to." Nick admitted. She was far too big of a girly girl to play sports in his opinion. Of course, he would always support her in whatever she did, but he also wanted her to do things that made her happy, not her little friends. "It's okay to quit softball if you don't like it. It's not worth it if you're miserable. Sports are supposed to be fun."

Carly nodded but stared at her feet still, disappointed in herself. She'd begged her parents to let her join, because she knew they thought she couldn't do it. And they'd let her, and now she wanted to quit.

Nick gently raised her chin with his finger so she was looking at him. "Hey. You're my little girl. I'll be proud of you no matter what."

Carly's eyes welled up with tears, and she wasn't sure why. She'd had a heck of a weekend really, with all that had gone on when Riley was babysitting, and her bad experience at the game. Nick gently tugged her forward to give her a hug, and she threw her arms around his neck. Being in his arms always made her feel better. It was like magic every time. She cried freely for about a minute as Nick rubbed her back, trying to calm her down.

"You know you can always come talk to me, right? And you can tell me anything." Nick told her, hoping she would always be open with him. She nodded into his shoulder, and suddenly felt a bit of a pang of guilt. Carly always told him everything. She bet she should really tell him about what happened when Riley was babysitting.

Carly pulled back and wiped her eyes. Nick tucked some hair behind her ear, and noticed she looked like she wanted to say something, so he just waited. "What's up, baby?" He prompted her when she seemed to be having trouble.

"I…I haven't been very good this weekend." She admitted solemnly, but knew she would feel better once she'd spilled the beans to him. If she didn't, there would be that icky feeling in her stomach and her heart for a long time.

Nick wasn't sure what she meant, but listened intently. "Why's that, darlin'?"

She paused and looked a little afraid to continue. "You can tell me."

"When you went out with mommy to the movie, Nolan was annoying me, so I pushed him too, and we spilled stuff all over the carpet, but Riley picked it up."

Nick nodded in understanding, but really didn't think that was something worth getting all emotional and worked up over. Carly was overly emotional sometimes. "Well, thank you for telling me, sweetheart. You could've just told me."

"But I'm supposed to be nice to Nolan. I'm sorry." She apologized and continued without thinking. "Riley didn't tell cuz she promised not to if I kept her secret."

Nick's eyebrows furrowed. This sounded fishy. Carly realized she'd spoken a little too much, and began trying to backtrack. "Um, just kidding. I mean, Riley was just bein' nice and she said she wouldn't tell."

Nick fought back a smirk at what a bad liar she was. At least he could still tell with her, and apparently not Riley. Something was going on, and he was going to get to the bottom of it.

"Carly." He began in not quite a warning tone, but one that let his daughter know he had caught in to her fib. "You need to tell me the truth. I get the feeling something went on I need to know about."

Carly swallowed and scratched a part of her arm, even though it wasn't itchy. She avoided his eyes again, and stumbled on her words. "R…Riley made me promise not to tell you."

Nick cleared his throat. Apparently, Riley was at it again, and not being too great of an influence on her younger sister. "Well, Riley shouldn't be asking you to keep secrets from me. I think you better tell me what happened."

"Do you promise you won't get mad at her?" She asked him.

Nick sighed at her request. "Well, if she did something that was dangerous, then no, I can't promise I won't get mad at her. If she did something wrong, she needs to face the consequences."

The young girl in question swallowed nervously again, hoping that Riley wouldn't find out she had tattled. She hadn't done it on purpose, though. Their father had made her tell, and Carly hoped that even Riley understood that lying to his face was not a good idea.

"Okay. But don't tell her I told." She started off. "When you were out, she called Cody on the phone, and she's gonna sneak out tonight."

Nick's eyebrows jumped up at the confession. Here he was, thinking Riley had grown up so much over the last month, and she was going behind his back once again for a cheap thrill. She'd forced her younger sister to lie for her, and she'd managed not to come clean to him even when he'd taken a week off her grounding, and let her take a break from chores that day. Obviously, he still had a ways to go with that daughter of his.

"Thank you for telling me, baby." He told Carly, always wanting her to tell him the truth. At least one of his daughters listened to him. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go have a word with your older sister."


	14. Chapter 14

_A/N: Wooo, took me a while to get this chapter out. Thanks for waiting patiently, and thanks for the reviews. Please let me know what you think._

After giving his youngest daughter a kiss, Nick left her bedroom and began to walk down the stairs to find Riley. Nick was livid. He couldn't believe that he'd trusted her, even went out of his way to cut her some slack, and she'd been playing him the entire time. She'd forced her little sister to lie for her, and he suspected she was trying to hang out again with that Cody jerk. Nick could feel his heart beating faster, and he knew he shouldn't confront her when he was so angry, but he just couldn't stop himself. He needed answers, and she needed to look him in the eye and explain herself.

Seething, he reached her bedroom door and burst it open, ready to begin his rampage, but Riley wasn't in there. Annoyed, he turned and yelled her name. "Riley!" The curt, don't-cross-me tone of his own voice reminded him of how ticked off he was. If he was Riley, he'd be running and hiding right now. However, moments later, her voice answered him timidly, in confusion.

"I'm in here." She answered him softly, her voice obviously worried. Riley didn't know what she'd done, but she knew it was best to comply with his requests.

Nick stormed in the direction of the kitchen to find his oldest making herself a turkey sandwich at the counter. She pressed the top piece of bread down several times as she saw his face. Normally, she knew exactly what he was pissed with her about, but in this case she had no clue. Had he found out she'd only read the Cliff's Notes for _Hamlet _instead of the actual play? Did he find that tank top in her closet he'd forbidden her to buy the other week? No, this was more serious.

"I really cannot believe you, Riley Michelle." He began, his voice scary and intimidating. It was a voice he really only used with the hardest criminals, hardly ever with Riley, and the look on her face displayed her dislike and fear of the tone. "You've been planning this whole time to sneak out again tonight? All this good girl stuff was an act?"

He waited for her explanation, his hands perched menacingly on his hips. Riley stumbled, opening her mouth to speak, but didn't quite know how to begin. It was true that she'd been plotting behind his back, but she'd made the right choice and decided not to go through with it. Riley realized he must've somehow gotten Carly to tattle on her. That was the only person who knew what she'd planned on doing, only now she was misinformed.

"I…I was, but I decided not to." She said weakly, knowing she didn't sound that good right now. She sounded like a horrible, distrustful child, and she couldn't blame him for being angry with her.

"You decided not to?" He repeated, crossing his arms over his chest. "And when was that? Just now, when you got busted?"

"Nooo!" She almost yelled, struggling to compose her voice, because it was all so unfair, and she knew how bad everything looked. Riley couldn't believe that she was in trouble again, even though she'd chosen not to sneak out. "This morning. That's what my phone call was! I told Cody I didn't want to anymore! It's the truth, Daddy, I swear!"

Nick nodded and pressed his tongue against his lower cheek in thought. Even if she wasn't planning on sneaking out, she'd still been deceiving him for the better part of a week.

"Alright." He cleared his throat, and calmed his voice so he was talking at a normal level. "So you decided not to sneak out. That's a good thing, because I would've caught you. But you've been lying this whole time, talking to Cody on the phone. Is there anything else I should know about?"

"No. I swear." The look on her face convinced him she was telling the truth. And unlike many times in her life with him, she seemed genuinely sorry and upset that he wasn't happy with her. It hurt her that he didn't trust her right now. Maybe she was coming around after all.

Nick nodded again and studied her face intently. Riley had to look down, and she pushed the bread of her sandwich down again. "You know I don't like you hanging out with that boy."

"I know, and I don't want to anymore because he was a jerk when I told him I didn't want to go out." She explained to him, hoping he was becoming convinced she wasn't an evil child. Riley had never much cared before what Nick thought of her. He hadn't been there when she was a little girl; not there to patch up her skinned knees, to help her study for her spelling tests, or read her bedtime stories. But now, in this stage of her life, he was there to protect her, even when she hadn't wanted to be protected.

Her father seemed more at ease now, which she was thankful for, but sensed she wasn't exactly out of the woods yet. Riley felt awful for deceiving him, and wished she could take it all back.

"You shouldn't have had Carly lie for you." He told her firmly, raising his eyebrows at her. "She's having enough trouble now without you confusing her."

"I know. I'm sorry." She said meekly, which was not something she did often, and fiddled with the bottom of her tank top.

"Alright." He said softly, scratching the back of his neck, thinking she still needed some kind of discipline for all this mess. "Why don't you go to your room. And you can help me with yard work in a little while."

Riley got tears in her eyes and looked at him in confusion. She does the right thing, and tells him the truth, even when he snaps at her and jumps to the wrong conclusion. She'd been an angel the last week, and still he does this?

"I tell you the truth, and I didn't sneak out." She reminded him tearfully, shaking his head. "And still I'm in trouble? This blows! Maybe I should sneak out anyway since I'm still getting yelled at!"

Riley stomped off to her room in frustration, leaving her turkey sandwich behind on the counter. She wasn't hungry anymore. Her door slammed as she became a prisoner in her own room yet again. Nick angrily turned on the kitchen faucet to do the pile of dishes waiting for someone's attention. His blood still felt like it was boiling from his encounter with Riley. It felt awful to trust someone, and then find out they hadn't been trustworthy, especially his own daughter. At least she had chosen to do the right thing, but it didn't feel that way.

These were the times when she really wished she could just live with her grandmother instead of her father. At least she didn't bite her head off when she was trying to do the right thing. It seemed all her dad was concerned with was being right, and catching her on ever single infraction. He didn't even care that she'd fixed what she did wrong! Riley grabbed a pile of books that were sitting on her desk and pushed them over, knocking them noisily to the floor. Sometimes, she hated being a teenager and always being misunderstood. And it especially hurt that her own father, a man that she was learning to trust and love, didn't understand her at all.

Out in the living room area, Sara emerged folding one of Riley's shirts with a concerned look on her face. Nick was leaning back against the kitchen counter, touching the bridge of his nose in frustration. He just didn't understand Riley. Didn't she realize that plotting to sneak out was pretty much just as bad as actually doing it? Sure, it counted for something with him that she'd decided not to do it, but how honest was she even being about that? How did he know she hadn't just decided to abort the idea when he'd confronted her with the truth? She'd given him her word, but at times, Nick didn't know if that meant a whole lot to him. Over the two and a half years he'd known her, he'd caught her lying several times about major things, and while she was coming along, he couldn't shake the feeling Riley was lying again.

"Nick?" Sara called him softly, not at all impressed with how his conversation with Riley had gone, if you could even call it that.

"What?" Nick asked, in a slightly annoyed tone, not making eye contact with his wife. Sara finished folding the shirt and let it drop to the arm of the couch, then proceeded towards the kitchen.

"Did you even listen to what she was saying?" She posed, having witnessed in the other room how he'd looked over her apologies and how she'd admitted she was wrong and did the right thing.

"Yes, Sara. I heard what she said." He snapped a little, turning around and placing his hands on the edge of the counter, leaning forward. "I'm just having trouble believing her."

"And why's that?"

Nick let out a surprised, slightly disgusted little noise through his nose, as if the question in itself were preposterous. "Do I need to remind you why she's grounded? She hasn't exactly been trustworthy lately."

"Well, did you listen to the way she said it? And did she look you in the eye?" Sara liked to think that, as a mother, she could tell when one of her children was telling the truth. There had been something in Riley's voice that told her she was being sincere. She could understand where Nick was coming from. She really did. But Sara didn't want him pushing Riley away by not believing her.

"I. I don't know." He shook his head, thinking over what his daughter had said and how she said it. Was he a bad father for not believing her? "The important thing is she's definitely staying here tonight."

Sara let out a little huff, causing Nick to look at her for an explanation. "No, Nick. The important thing is that a girl can count on being trusted by her father."

Sara turned and walked off, and decided she needed to go talk to Riley herself. She'd been around when Riley lied, and could always tell when she was fibbing. There had been a pleading, desperate tone to her voice when Nick had confronted her, as if she were shocked that he didn't believe her. It wasn't like her to sound that way. Usually when Nick yelled at her, she got defensive and brash, but this time she'd kept her cool and tried to present her case. Sara wondered if she was getting too soft, but something in her gut told her she wasn't.

Knocking on her stepdaughter's door, she didn't hear an answer, but proceeded inside anyway. Riley was face down on her bed, crying softly, looking quite pitiful and down. Wordlessly, Sara stepped over the wide array of items splayed across the floor, and sat down next to Riley on the bed. She hadn't snapped or pushed her away yet, so Sara reached out and gently began to rub circles on her back, hoping to calm her.

"He's just worried about you, Ry." Sara began, trying to explain her husband's behavior. She knew his heart was in the right place, but sometimes it seemed like he did more yelling than anything else. Not that Riley always made it easier for him to do much else.

"He doesn't care that I wasn't going to sneak out. All he cares about is catching me every time I mess up even a little." She rattled off in a tearful breath, turning her head to the side slightly to eye Sara.

"Well, you don't have the cleanest track record when it comes to being honest with us." Sara pointed out, speaking the truth. Their relationship with Riley was still a work in progress, going through ups and downs. They didn't have the foundation with her of the early years like they had with Carly and Nolan. Trust was being built, and destroyed sometimes, during her teen years, a turbulent time for anyone, but especially for Riley.

"I know, but this time I'm telling the truth, and he doesn't even care." If Nick thought he was such a mind-reader, bragging that he always knew when she was lying, shouldn't he also be able to decipher when she was telling the truth? Where was the justice in only being recognized when she was lying?

Sara sighed through her nose as she patted the teenager's back. She tried to think back to when she was a teenager when she was having a hard time understanding Riley, but it never helped much because her adolescence had been so screwed up. She didn't have parents to fight with.

"He may have overreacted, but you are still grounded anyway." Sara reminded her of her standing punishment for sneaking out to the party a few weeks ago.

"Like I need to be reminded." Riley growled, burying her face in her pillow once again. The prospect of yard work was certainly not an appealing activity for a weekend. "Can't I be excused? I have to study for the SAT you know."

Riley was scheduled to take the despised, tedious exam in two weeks, and would then anxiously await her results in hopes of getting into Butterfield. And while she had lots of free time on her hands at the moment, cracking the vocabulary and high school math books was hardly how she wanted to spend her days and evenings.

"You have plenty of time to study during the week, but you don't take advantage of it. Your dad needs help outside."

Riley turned over and glared at her stepmother, realizing she would always be on his side in the end. She'd come in acting like she was sensitive to her feelings, but when it came down to her support against her dad, Riley would never come out on top. "Then why don't you help him?"

Sara ran her tongue along her top teeth for a moment and glared, focusing on not snapping at the girl on the spot. "I do enough around here, Riley. You're part of this family, and you need to help out accordingly." Sara stood up and started walking towards the door.

"Doesn't feel much like helping. Feels more like being a slave." Riley retorted under her breath. Sara closed her eyes and shook her head, and decided not to say anything more. On days like this, it was easy to tell where Riley got her headstrong ways from.


	15. Chapter 15

Carly Stokes sat in class late Monday morning, after a quite boring weekend, after the fiasco of her softball game. She'd decided to give up softball at the end of the season, which was only a couple weeks away. Surprisingly, her friends hadn't been mad at her at all for wanting to give it up. They'd come over to play Sunday afternoon and had a grand old time doing girly things like braiding each other's hair, playing Barbies, and playing tag outside. They hadn't once suggested playing softball at the local field, and Carly knew it didn't really matter if they didn't share every activity they did. Her friends liked to play softball, and she didn't, and that was okay.

However, not all of her teammates were being as nice about it as her best friends. All day, Angela and another girl had been making mean comments to her, telling her it was about time she'd quit, and that they'd win so much more next season without her. It hurt, but Carly just ignored them like her mom and dad had told her to. After a while, they'd given up, but when Angela made another mean comment as they were lining up for lunch, it was the last straw for Carly. She glared at her teammate and decided it was time she stuck up for herself, but this time she wasn't going to get in trouble for it because no adults would see.

Carly ate lunch with her friends, and when they were finished, they were supposed to go outside for recess. She asked permission to use the restroom, and the teacher on duty said yes. The second grader scurried down the hallway towards the girls' restroom, but instead of going inside, she snuck down further and went to her classroom. Peeking inside, she could see her teacher, Miss Lawson, was not inside. Her heart was beating so fast, afraid that she was going to get caught, but was fairly sure her teacher ate lunch in the teacher's lounge. Carly quickly went to her desk, opened the top, and retrieved a black marker. Their science projects had been due today, so all their poster boards were in the back of the classroom, ready to be put on display. She picked out Angela's poster board, which didn't look that good anyway, looked around to make sure no one could see, and began scribbling all over it. Karma was really something else. Angela was a mean girl, a real bully, and Carly told herself she deserved this. She deserved any bad thing that happened to her.

Once the poster board was adequately ruined, Carly put the top back on the marker and scurried over to her desk to put it away. As she closed her desk, she could see that she'd gotten a little marker on her hands, but shrugged it off. Everyone had a black marker in their desk. Carly then walked out of the room and joined her friends at recess, trying to act as if nothing had gone on. She was a little ashamed of herself, but Angela deserved it. Of all the mean things she had done to Carly over the past year, this one little thing was nothing.

Except, later, when Angela saw her project, the look on her face was completely heartbreaking. She'd started crying and yelling for Miss Lawson to come look. Carly's face turned red and she just concentrated on the math paper she was doing. Miss Lawson comforted her, and assured Angela she would still get full credit for her project, but anyone knew that having your project ruined was a huge bummer. They'd been working on those things for weeks. Carly did feel a little bad, but she just thought back to all the mean things Angela had said.

Later that day, after she'd gotten home from school, Carly knew she was home free because her teacher had never even asked her about Angela's project. Carly knew she would never be suspected, because she was usually very well-behaved, besides a few slip-ups now and then. There was still black marker on her hands, which she'd tried to wash off, but it was permanent. Her show was just finishing on the television, and she knew it would soon be time to start her homework. Nolan was at his friend's house doing their stupid little boy things, and Riley had gone straight to her room, still upset from what had happened over the weekend. Today, she actually buried herself in her SAT study books. The theme song played on the TV set, and Nick glanced over from putting clean dishes away in the kitchen.

"Alright, Carly, time to hit the books." He reminded her.

Carly sighed and turned the TV, and obediently walked to the dining room table to begin her homework. The telephone rang as she was getting out her assignment notebook.

"Stokes residence." Her father answered, and listened to whoever was on the other end. "Yes, this is Nick. How are things going?"

He didn't say anything for quite some time, as he listened to whoever was on the other end of the line. Carly began to do her math worksheet, when her father's next statement caught her attention.

"Someone had scribbled all over her project?" He checked. Carly's face turned bright red, and she stopped writing the answer to the problem she was working on. Had her teacher somehow found out?

"Well, we've been having some problems between Angela and Carly. I know Carly's been hurt a lot by her, but I would never think she'd go that far. Are you sure?"

Carly gulped and put her pencil down. If her father knew what she had done, she'd been in the worst trouble she'd ever been in. He would be so disappointed in her, that he'd never want to look at her again and kick her out of the house. As silently as she could, she stood up from her chair and decided to go into the bathroom, where maybe she could hide, but her father saw her.

"Carly, get back in the dining room." He instructed her, raising his eyebrows, not looking very happy, but he didn't look ticked like he sometimes got with Riley. She could never so bravely tick her father off like Riley did. Carly winced and very slowly walked back to the table as he wrapped up his conversation with Miss Lawson. Carly looked down at her hands as he hung up the phone, seeing the black marker that solidified her guilt. She was such an awful person. But wouldn't he understand that Angela had been mean to her like at the game and stick up for her? "I'll have a little talk with her. Thanks, Miss Lawson."

Nick sighed as he walked to the dining room. He wasn't angry just yet, because he didn't believe that his sweet Carly could scribble over someone's project, which she'd worked so hard on. Nick pulled out the chair next to his daughter's and sat down.

"Carly, that was your teacher." He began calmly, noticing that she was now sitting on her hands nervously, and avoiding eye contact with him. "Do you wanna tell me anything?"

She bit her lip and debated whether she should just come clean, but also how she could maybe lie her way out of being caught. Not that that ever worked, but it was worth a shot every time to a little girl who was facing someone as scary-looking as her dad when she misbehaved.

"Anything to do with the science projects?" He prompted her when she didn't answer him. Nick hoped she had enough sense not to lie to him.

"I think I got an A." She told him truthfully.

Nick cleared his throat and crossed his arms, just staring at her silently for a few moments. "What do you think Angela got?"

Carly shrugged. "I don't know. You could ask her, I guess."

Nick decided to cut past all the indirectness. "That was Miss Lawson on the phone. She says Angela's project was all scribbled over with a black marker. Do you know anything about that?"

Carly crinkled her eyebrows and stole a quick glance at him. She hated lying to him. "Whoever did it was probably someone who got picked on by her." Carly told him honestly. It wasn't a lie, but it didn't make her feel any better. He obviously knew the truth. Why didn't he just come out and say it? Carly knew that sometimes adults made you explain what you did wrong just to make you seem even more ashamed.

"Show me your hands." Nick prompted her, wanting to see for himself why Miss Lawson suspected his daughter of the crime. She said Carly had been acting guilty all day, which didn't surprise him. She was very bad about acting innocent when she'd done something wrong. They could always tell when she was up to something.

Carly shook her head, knowing it would only further affirm the fact she'd been bad.

"Carly." He warned her a little more sternly.

"I don't wanna." She almost whined, getting a bit teary eyed.

"And why's that?"

"Because."

"Carly, I'm losing my patience with you."

Carly got teary eyed and decided to break down and tell the truth, knowing there was no way her father would just let this go. "She was bein' mean to me again, so I stuck up for myself!"

Nick was a little relieved, but also very disturbed that Carly had indeed done such an awful deed. "Ruining someone's project is not sticking up for yourself. That's just mean."

"But she was making fun of me!" It had all seemed so logical at the time, but obviously her father didn't agree. She thought he understood!

"That's no excuse for what you did." Nick told her firmly. "If you wanna stand up for yourself, you tell the teacher, or you use words to tell Angela how you feel. I thought I'd raised you better than to ruin someone's hard work."

"But you didn't care on Saturday!" She pointed out what had happened at the ball game.

"That was different. You were deliberately mean to her, and she was very upset about her project. Being cruel isn't sticking up for yourself, and it's not gonna be tolerated in this house."

Carly cried a little bit because she hated disappointing her parents. She knew her dad would tell her mother also, and she'd have to face another lecture later on all over again. Nick stood up and tore a piece of paper from her notebook, then set down firmly in front of her.

"You're gonna write an apology letter to Angela and give it to her tomorrow morning." He decided, setting her pencil down on top of the blank sheet.

A rare moment of defiance flared up. "No!" She yelled, and pushed the paper off the table angrily in one distinct swoop. Nick didn't respond for several long, awkward moments, just staring at his daughter.

"Go pick that up." He ordered her calmly, but Carly didn't budge, and was crying softly. She didn't understand why her father was actually sticking up for Angela, and not her. Angela never seemed to get in trouble with her parents for being mean, and she does one thing, and she has to write an apology letter?

Nick stood up straight and cleared his throat. "Alright. You have one hour to write that note, and it better be finished, or you're gonna be in even more trouble. You're grounded for the rest of the week, no television, and your teacher's taking away your recess."

With that, Nick left his daughter there in the dining room, refusing to give her more power by defying him. She had her stubborn side also, and was too proud to pick the paper up when he told her to. He disappeared into the laundry room to finish up a load before he began dinner. It was very out of the ordinary for Carly to be downright mean to someone else, and though Angela was probably the meanest kid he'd ever met, that didn't mean Carly needed to stoop to her level for revenge. Nick thought his punishment of writing Angela a letter would set Carly straight and make her realize that being mean wasn't the answer to her problems.

Meanwhile, in the living, room, Carly was staring a hole into the still blank paper. What she really wanted to write would probably get her into even more trouble, and Carly knew it wasn't wise for her to keep pushing the limits. Still, she couldn't bring herself to write an apology to that monster of a little girl. It was so unfair! She was always such a good kid, who hardly ever acted up, and the one time in the past year she had, she was being punished big time. Her dad just didn't get it! Riley had been right in her ranting – he didn't understand kids at all. Carly felt herself becoming very angry, and she realized she'd had enough of this. She needed to show her dad that she wasn't going to sit back and take this. It wasn't fair she was in so much trouble, and no one cared that Angela was such a horrible kid. Quietly, Carly stood up from her seat, walked to the back door, and opened it with barely a noise. Taking one look back, she stepped outside and began walking away from her home and the dad that didn't understand.

CSI CSI CSI CSI CSI

Sara Stokes let her bag drop to the floor next to the bar as she tossed off her sunglasses and let the keys skid across the top about ten minutes later. She sighed, glad she was back at home after a long shift. Glancing at the kitchen table, she could see that Carly had started her homework as always, but must be taking a break or in the bathroom. Riley was likely in her bedroom wallowing in self-pity, and she knew Nolan was at the Fosters' house. She heard the washing machine running in the other room, so she followed the sound, hoping to find her sexy husband nearby. Sara found him in front of the dryer, scooping the dried clothes out into the basket to fold in a minute. She smirked to herself, feeling a little frisky, and walked up behind him. As he was standing up she ran her hands from his sides around to his tight stomach. Nick smiled and put one of his hands over his wife's.

"Hey, baby." He greeted her, his voice displaying that he hadn't had the best day ever. Sara breathed in the scent of his t-shirt, a mix of laundry detergent and that distinct Nick Stokes smell she never got tired of sniffing. A single kiss was placed between his shoulder blades before he turned in her arms. Nick didn't say anything, just pressed a chaste kiss to her lips.

"There's nothing sexier than coming home to find your husband doing household chores." She smiled at him and ran her hand up and down his chest.

"Sexy, huh?" He smirked, forgetting momentarily about all the drama with Carly and Riley lately, letting his strong hands circle her waist. Nick leaned back slightly to look at her smiling before sneaking in again for a more passionate kiss. Sara let her arms drape over his shoulders as he teased the skin just above her jeans, getting lost in his always amazing kisses. They still made out like a couple teenagers on a regular basis, and Sara knew she would never tire of it. He was such a talented kisser, always knowing just how much pressure to use, how to nip and suck at just the right time, and that tongue of his. He could still take her breath away and knock her off her feet. As his tongue swept inside her own warm mouth, dueling deliciously with his, she let out a tiny whimper of pleasure. Her hand traveled down his side, skimming over his soft t-shirt, and then sneakily gave his package a firm squeeze. Nick immediately broke away in surprise. Pleasant surprise, but surprise nonetheless.

"Don't start what you can't finish, missy." He warned her. She'd gone right for the grand prize, and she knew it. Nick nibbled on her ear for a few moments before he began kissing the delicate skin on her neck, and his hands worked their way under her jeans at the back.

Sara grinned and squeezed him again, hearing him breathe in through his teeth quickly, struggling to keep himself under control. "What makes you think I don't intend on finishing?"

Nick's lips clashed with hers again, devouring each other, both their desires further being fueled. "Carly's in the dining room. We can't."

Sara pulled away from his lips and began to kiss along his strong jaw line, loving just how masculine he was. "She wasn't when I walked in." She continued to kiss him and popped the button of his jeans. Nick's hand stilled hers and he pulled away.

"She's not there?" He checked in confusion, checking Sara's face for seriousness. "She's supposed to be writing an apology letter."

Nick sighed and gave Sara another kiss, but the passion was gone for now. He buttoned up his jeans and then walked out of the laundry room to find Carly.

"Who's she writing to?" Sara asked, following behind him.

"Angela. Her teacher called and said she thought Carly was responsible for ruining Angela's science project, and she pretty much admitted to it."

"Carly? Why would she do that?" Sara asked as they walked to the dining room.

"I don't know. I'm still trying to figure that out." Nick admitted, and found the dining room table, a still blank piece of paper sitting out on the table. "Where is she?"

Sara shrugged, but wasn't alarmed, figuring she must be up in her room, or perhaps had gone into the backyard. "Carly!" Nick yelled, and waited for an answer, but was only met with silence.

The two parents proceeded to check all around the house – in her bedroom, in her siblings' bedrooms, the bathroom, the basement – she was nowhere. They called her friends' houses, and they hadn't heard from her. Needless to say, Nick and Sara were getting very worried.

"Where would she go?" Sara asked frantically, thinking of all the horrible crimes she'd seen the results of over the years. Carly was only seven, and she didn't know about all the evils of the world yet.

"I don't know." Nick ran a hand through his short hair in worry, wondering why on earth Carly would leave the house without telling them. He walked back to Riley's room and opened the door. She glared at him from where she was studying definitions at her desk. "Have you seen Carly?"

"Not since we got home. Why?"

"She left without telling anyone." Riley could tell he was really worried about her sister, but she didn't see how she could help him out right now. She hadn't seen Carly since three o'clock when they'd arrived at the house. "Do you have any idea where she'd go?"

Riley shook her head. "Sorry. I bet she just went to a friend's house."

Nick sighed and turned around to find Sara. Riley felt really bad for her parents, but didn't think her sister was the type of kid to run away like she had. Nick snatched up his cell phone and car keys, looking thoroughly worried, as he walked to where Sara was talking on the house phone to one of Carly's friend's moms. She hung up after saying goodbye, and sighed worriedly.

"They haven't seen her." Sara informed him. Both were worried sick, because they knew their young, innocent daughter wasn't equipped to handle what she might encounter alone on the streets of Las Vegas. And while it was likely she was just hiding out at someone's house, or at some park, their minds couldn't help but worry about the what ifs. What if someone had kidnapped her? What if she was hurt? What if she was lost?

"Riley!" Nick called to his oldest, and she appeared in front of him quickly. "Stay here and call the Fosters to tell Nolan to come home. Don't leave the house, and call us if you hear anything from Carly, okay?"

Riley nodded obediently. Nick turned to Sara and took her hand. "Come on, let's go. We'll find her."


	16. Chapter 16

_A/N: Sorry for delaying! More poor kitten Snickers was diagnosed with kitty leukemia. : ( I thought I was going to have to put her down, so that was quite traumatizing. She is okay for now though. Long live Snickers (both the couple and the kitty)!!_

Riley felt bad for her younger sister. Wherever she had gone, which Riley was certain must be just somewhere down the block, she would soon be found and would likely never see the living day again. If Riley knew one thing about her parents, it was that they valued safety above all. They had seen too many dead corpses of children, too many missing kids cases, and now their youngest daughter had run away. Perhaps that's why Carly had done it – because she knew that her being missing would strike a chord with them and maybe prove a point. Only it wouldn't. It would only further piss them off. Riley thought back to the time she had run away after getting upset. Sure, they'd been relieved to find her, and hugged her and held her, but she'd been in major trouble afterwards.

Riley was worried for her sister, which was why she had disregarded her parents' wishes and gone out looking for Carly herself. Nolan was still safe at his friend's house, and so Riley was now walking through the backyards of the neighborhood, calling her little sister's name. Maybe if it wasn't her mother and father calling (in surely scary and intimidating tones), she would be more apt to answer and get herself back home where she belonged. Riley had only heard bits of why she'd been in trouble in the first place. She must've run away because she was upset about Nick punishing her.

The teenager made her down the rows of houses lining their quiet suburban street, calling Carly's name. She paused for a few moments and let out a long breath, wishing Carly would get a clue already. As she did, she heard a slight rustling from somewhere above her. Looking up, she saw a tree house nestled about five feet above her in a large oak tree.

"Carly?!" She called up, shielding her eyes from the setting sun.

She heard a little whimpery cry and then an answer. "I'm not coming down." Carly informed her from way up high. Riley rolled her eyes. Carly was so dramatic sometimes. It had taken her a long time to be able to sleep over at someone's house, let alone stay in a tree house overnight. Who did she think she was kidding? Obviously, part of this was all about attention. Riley easily climbed up the ladder and found her younger sister curled up in the corner of the tree house, looking quite pitiful.

"What are you doing up here?" Riley asked the obvious question, plopping down right next to her, situating her own legs in a pretzel style.

"I hate Dad." She emphasized the h-word and played with her shoe lace in attempt to channel her frustration. 'Join the club' was what Riley wanted to tell her sister, but she bit her tongue. She was sure Carly was blowing whatever it was way out of proportion. Her life wasn't all that complicated. The kid got in trouble for things like not cleaning her room, disobeying, and not eating her vegetables. What in the heck was the big deal? Sure, Riley could dismiss her sister's feelings, but she knew that wouldn't get her anywhere. Obviously, Carly wanted to be listened to.

"Why do you think you hate Dad?"

The memory of all that had happened caused Carly's eyes to fill with tears. She wiped at her wet cheeks as she began telling the awful story. "Cause he's makin' me write an apology letter to Angela, and she's the meanest person I ever met! And I only did one little thing, and I got in trouble!"

Riley hadn't really heard what had happened at home since she'd been in her room, but had heard their father talking sternly several times. "What did you do to Angela?"

"I scribbled in marker all over her project." She held one of her hands up as proof, displaying the black marker to her sister.

Riley knew her sister wanted someone to side with her, and tell her that what she'd done had been okay. Sure, it probably felt good, but that didn't make it right. If Riley had been in the same position, she probably would've done something to Angela already, but for the first time, Riley felt herself siding with her father. Though revenge felt good, scribbling all over someone's hard work, no matter how bad a person they were, wasn't right.

"Carly, I know she made you mad, and it sounds like she's a pretty bad kid, but that doesn't mean ruining her project is okay."

Carly pouted and seemed frustrated that her sister's view was almost identical to her dad's. "But she never gets in trouble and I do for one little thing!"

"That's because you have parents who actually care about you." Riley blurted. "Her parents don't punish her when she misbehaves, and look what an awful kid she's become. Dad and your mom punish you when you misbehave because they love you and want you to learn wrong from right. You're gonna grow up and actually treat people with respect and get along with other people. You'll go to college and get a good job. And Angela – she'll just be miserable because no one will want to be friends with such a mean person. And her parents don't care about her grades. I doubt that make her do her homework."

"I thought you hated Daddy too."

Riley was silent for several moments, staring straight ahead in thought. It was true that Riley basically hated her father sometimes for the same reason Carly hated him right now. When they acted up, it was guaranteed they'd be punished, and that sucked, but Riley also realized it was for her own good. At her mother's house, if she acted up, her mom would usually yell at her or even just shake her head and go on with her business. There were never any consequences, so she never really cared about her behavior or her grades. When she'd come to live with the Stokes, Riley had quickly learned that bad behavior would be addressed directly and swiftly. While it was painful and confusing at the time, and even now, Riley knew it was because her father and Sara loved her very much.

"I thought I did. Sometimes I forget he's just looking out for me."

Carly wiped her eyes once again, feeling better now that her sister had actually sat down and talked to her. But would her mom and dad be as understanding?

"Are Mom and Dad really mad at me?" She asked timidly.

"They're really worried about you. And running away when you're in trouble isn't exactly the best move to make."

"I'm gonna be in even more trouble now." Her mind fleeted to horrible scenes of being locked in her room and being given her dinner through the door; of only being allowed out to go to the bathroom; of being forced to scrub the floor with a toothbrush.

"Well, I know it's gonna be hard, but the best thing to do is to go home and face them. You might be in trouble, but it always feels better to tell the truth."

Carly nodded, but tears swam in her innocent eyes. "I'm scared."

Riley wrapped her arms around her younger sister, wishing there was something else she could say. It would all be okay once their parents got past the _I'm so glad you're safe so that now I can kill you_ phase. A sisterly kiss was placed on top of Carly's head, and then Riley followed the young girl down the ladder to the ground. Carly nervously took her sister's hand as she retrieved her cell phone to call their dad.

CSI CSI CSI CSI CSI

Nick and Sara had gone to every possible place they thought their young daughter may have gone. They'd checked in with her best friends, driven by her school, and searched around the park they frequented, but no sign of Carly. Both were scared, but also angry because Carly had done this purposely – they were going out of their minds because Carly decided she didn't like her punishment and had completely disregarded her safety.

"Nick, I'm starting to get a really bad feeling. I mean, where else could she be?" Sara was tapping her finger against the Denali door, and couldn't sit still. The thought that her own daughter had been snatched up by some psycho made her insides turn and her hands tremble. As Nick was trying to think of a response, his cell phone rang, and from the caller ID, he saw it was Riley.

"Riley's calling. Maybe she knows something." He told his wife, and then flipped his phone open. "Any luck, Ry?"

"Yea, Dad." She said a bit sadly, and Nick's heart dropped, fearing she'd come across a horrible scene. "I found her in a tree house." She explained, walking a few strides head of her sister, who was kicking at little rocks in her path, staring at the ground. Riley had promised to handle the first part of the conversation, then they were sure Nick would want a word with Carly.

Nick let out a sigh of relief and turned to look at Sara. "She's okay. Riley's got her." He assured his wife, who closed her eyes and let out the breath she'd been holding since she'd learned Carly had run off. Nick then made an illegal U-turn, heading back towards their home.

"Put her on the phone." Nick instructed his oldest, feeling relieved but worked up at the same time.

"I will, but Daddy, go easy on her." Riley whispered imploringly. "She's pretty upset."

"Yeah? Well she should be, because she's in an awful amount of trouble." He countered, not exactly feeling like going lightly on his youngest daughter. Nick thought Carly, of all three of his children, was the most reasonable when it came to her safety, and then she'd gone and done this.

"I'm gonna put her on because she wants to apologize. Will you listen to her?" She asked him.

Nick chuckled humorlessly, wondering when Riley had changed into the role of mediator. She'd been so whiny herself the last couple weeks, but in this moment she sounded quite adult and knowledgeable. "Fine. You guys almost home?"

"We're two houses away now." Riley assured him, stopping so her sister could catch up. She said goodbye to her father and then took the phone away from her ear, looking down sympathetically at Carly. "You ready, squirt?"

Carly sighed and her eyes showed how worried she was. They both knew their father was a reasonable man, but issues like their safety was something he didn't mess around with. "You can do it. Good luck."

Riley handed the phone over and squeezed the younger girl's shoulder in support. They began walking together the last two yards as Carly gulped.

"Daddy?" She began timidly.

"Carly." Nick began, running his tongue along the side of his molars to keep his temper under control. "Are you alright?"

"Yes." She gave the one-word answer, freezing up now that she was on the phone. Riley nudged her, reminded her of what she was supposed to do. "Daddy, I'm sorry I ran away. I was mad."

Nick sighed heavily and tried to consider things from her point of view. He could understand why she ran away, but that didn't make it right. It must be confusing in her young mind to understand why Angela could be such a horrible child and never get in trouble with her parents, and how she had slipped and he'd laid the smack-down on her. She didn't get it yet. She didn't get that Angela's home life wasn't nearly as good as her own, that her parents didn't care much about her, and that she was being set up for a life of hardship and possibly crime.

"I understand that you're mad, Carly, but that's not an excuse to put your safety in jeopardy like that. Your mom and I were worried sick." He explained their point of view.

"I know. I'm sorry." She said simply. Riley squeezed her shoulder again as they reached the front door of their home. After unlocking it, Riley led her into the living room to sit down.

Hearing his daughter's voice, and hearing her apologize calmed Nick down some, but he still felt like grabbing her and shaking some sense into her. Didn't she understand how dangerous it was for a little girl to be wandering around by herself?

"Alright." He turned onto their street, his Denali passing under the haven of the blossoming trees of their suburban neighborhood. It was true their street looked rather safe, and it was, but it was always the unknown that clouded his and Sara's minds. The _what ifs_ were only magnified as a result of their profession, and while they wanted their children to be aware of the dangers that surrounded them so they could protect themselves, they didn't want them to know about some of the awful things they came across at work. "We'll talk more when we get home. I'm right down the street."

"Okay. I love you."

"Love you too. Bye."

Nick clicked the phone off and let out another deep breath, his muscles now untensing knowing his child was safe.

"She was in a tree house?" Sara asked from the other chair.

"Yeah, apparently. Riley must've gone to look for her." He answered as he slowed down to pull into the driveway. "She seemed kind of ashamed, but that doesn't exactly excuse it."

"No. It's not like she wandered off accidentally. She did it on purpose to make us worried."

"Obviously she doesn't think I was listening to her earlier." Nick put the Denali in park once he was on the driveway. "I think I need to have another talk with her about why she's being punished. She doesn't understand."

Sara nodded in agreement with her husband as she unbuckled her seatbelt. "Alright. Let's go throttle her."

Nick smirked a little as they both got out of the car and headed for the front door. They knew that with Carly, she didn't need a lot of lecturing and discipline. She was a really good kid, and usually only required a look or a few stern words to set her back on track. Based on what Nick had heard over the phone, she was already ashamed of what she'd done and knew it was wrong. Punishing her more wouldn't do much good, because the look of disappointment on her parents' faces was enough.

Walking into the living room, they found Carly looking quite ashamed and worried, sitting on the couch. When she saw her parents, she immediately looked down at her feet and teared up. Riley stood up and walked towards the two adults.

"She was in the Hastings' tree house down the street. I talked to her a little bit, and she's afraid of being in more trouble." She whispered to them, feeling useful and helpful for finding the lost little girl. They both nodded in acknowledgement, and Nick thanked her. Riley told them that Nolan was still at his friend's house, then disappeared into her room to give them some privacy.

Sara strode across the room and first enveloped her daughter in a tight hug. However, she noticed that Carly didn't hug her back, just allowed her mother to embrace her still hanging her head shamefully. She wished that her mother was just hugging her like she always did when she got home, but she knew in the next few moments the hug would finish and she'd be in big trouble. This was affirmed when Sara pulled away after a few prolonged moments, after touching her daughter's hair, and smelling her scent, she knew that Carly was indeed okay.

"You had us worried sick, Carly." Sara pulled back and looked her daughter straight in the face, speaking firmly.

"I'm sorry." She whispered, knowing she deserved whatever lecture they were going to give her. Carly knew she had been an awful kid today, but as Riley said, it was good to show she was remorseful. Sara stood up and steered her daughter towards the couch to sit down, and then sat down herself on the coffee table in front of her. Nick had already crossed his arms and moved to stand beside Sara.

"We're glad you're okay, Carly, but what you did was very dangerous and very inconsiderate." Sara continued, her voice taking on more of a stern tone. They were going to make very sure that Carly never did this again. Carly just nodded and stared at her toes.

"Carly, look at me." Nick requested, though his tone made it more of a command. She complied with tears in her eyes. "Tell me why you ran away."

Carly struggled for a few moments to find a strong voice, though it failed her as soon as she began talking. "Cause I didn't think you were bein' fair." She told him honestly.

Nick nodded in understanding and then sat down on the coffee table next to his wife. "I understand why you feel that way, Carly." He said, surprising his daughter. "Angela isn't a very nice girl is she?"

Carly shook her head no.

"But if I let you get away with doing awful things like Angela does, you'd be just like her. You'd be sinking to her level. Do you understand that?" His voice was gentler now. Carly nodded again. She didn't want to be like Angela, because she was mean and everyone was afraid of her. Carly didn't think that girl had any real friends. "Getting even may feel good, but it's not the right thing to do. You have to be the better person by ignoring her or getting help."

Carly wasn't sure where she'd gotten the idea of revenge on Angela. Probably because she made Carly so mad. Her counselor had told her about standing up for herself, but deep down, Carly knew that didn't mean getting even with her by being mean. Carly felt sick and disgusting inside after she'd ruined Angela's project. That wasn't the type of person she wanted to be, and she knew her parents didn't want her to be like that either.

"I don't wanna be like Angela." Carly admitted in a bit of a raspy voice, from all the crying she'd be doing.

"Good." Nick offered her a small smile. "Because I want you to be like Carly, not like anyone else. The Carly I know is a kind, sweet, considerate little girl. And we love her very very much." He emphasized. No matter what awful things his children happened to do, he wanted them to know they'd always be loved, no matter what.

Carly stood up and wrapped her arms around her dad's neck. Nick hugged her tightly, and patted her back, glad that she seemed to understand now. Perhaps he had been to stern with her earlier. All Nick knew was that he was glad Carly was back in his arms, safe and sound.

"Do you hate me now?" Her muffled worry blurted out a few moments later. Nick pulled her back and held her sides, looking her square in the eye.

"I could _never _hate you." He cleared right up for her. "I may not always like what you will do, but I will _always_ like you."

Now for the unpleasant part. He couldn't exactly let this go unpunished, and he wanted her to understand why she had to be in the first place.

"Sweetheart," Sara began, "Do you understand why we have to punish you when you misbehave?"

Carly nodded. "Riley told me." She informed them. Their oldest daughter had apparently beaten them to it. "Cause you care about me and want me to grow up and be good and treat people good."

Sara nodded and grinned. "That about covers it. You have to learn right from wrong, Carly, so there has to be consequences when you break rules. It's not because we want to make your life miserable. We want you to be a happy, nice, kid. And you are."

"I know." She whispered. "Am I never allowed to come out of my room again?"

Sara shook her head and smiled a bit, looking at her husband. Since Carly seemed to understand and be remorseful, they'd go easier on her.

"We're not that mean." Nick told her. "I think I'll ground you for three more days, and we'll be finding some extra chores for you to do, missy." He decided. Carly didn't argue, just nodded in agreement. That was a lot easier that being banished to her room for the rest of her life.

"Okay." She agreed, and received a kiss on her forehead.

"Don't ever scare us again like that, you understand?" Nick raised his eyebrows at her seriously, and his daughter nodded again. "Okay. Why don't you go finish that letter."

Carly hugged both her parents one last time and then walked to the dining room where her work was sitting, unbothered. Without hesitation, she sat down and began writing her apology letter, and knew she would never do such an awful thing again.

Back in the living room, Nick wrapped his arm around Sara and kissed her temple. "You okay?"

Sara nodded and smiled weakly, rubbing the arm that was surrounding her. "I am now. She's safe. That's all that matters."

"Yeah. She's a good kid. She knows right from wrong pretty well."

"Whatever happened to the big trouble she was in?" Sara asked him. It seemed like Nick would be on a rampage when he finally found Carly, but all the anger seemed to disappear when he saw her.

Nick smirked at his own behavior. "Well, she seemed pretty remorseful. How could I be mad at that?"

Sara chuckled and kissed her husband's forehead. "You're such a softie." She accused him. The husband and wife exchanged a soft kiss and then rested their foreheads against each other's.

"Don't tell the kids."

_A/N: One more chapter after this, methinks._


	17. Chapter 17

_A/N: Woooo. Got a little sidetracked from this with Fall to Pieces. This is the last chapter, and probably the last fic in this universe, unless I come up with something really exciting. Thanks to all those who've read from the start. You rock my world! Please enjoy and review!_

Later that evening, there was a bundle of people laying on the couch together. After a filling dinner, Nick and Sara had both felt the need to be close to Carly, having been through one of the worst frights of their lives. Nick sat in one corner, his feet propped up on the coffee table with Sara's head resting in his lap. Carly was curled up against her mother, her back to Sara's stomach, all of them just laying there together. The little girl had fallen asleep about ten minutes ago, and the sight of her tiny chest moving up and down with each breath was a reassuring sight. She could've gotten hurt; she could've gotten kidnapped; but she was okay. Carly was there with them, laying in their arms.

Nolan had already been put to bed about forty-five minutes ago, and Riley was laying in the recliner right next to the couch, just watching her family. She'd been thinking back to the times she felt like an outsider in this family. Back when she'd first moved in with them, after the whirlwind of events that changed her life, Riley hadn't understood them. The feeling had probably been mutual, she realized, but little by little, she'd begun to feel part of the little family. And today, she'd done something important for these once-strangers. Carly had trusted her enough to allow her to help when she was obviously distraught. And Riley had managed to talk her out of her plan and reason with her about what she was doing, coaxing her out of that tree house and back home. Then, she'd been successfully mediating between her father and Carly. He was obviously upset with Carly, but after his conversation with Riley, he'd cooled down and approached the situation with a calmer head. The result, seeing the three of them all cozy and safe on the couch, was quite rewarding to observe.

Riley thought back to her own disagreements with her father. She'd been so angry at him for taking away her sweet sixteen party. It had been so unfair for him to take away such a milestone in her life. But was she being a hypocrite? She'd explained to Carly that Nick and Sara punished her because they cared, and wanted her to grow up to be a good person. The same thing had happened to her, but Riley sure hadn't seen it that way. Like Carly, she'd thought Nick was out to ruin her life. It had seemed he treated her so unfairly, when really, he was just looking out for her like he was looking out for Carly today. What Riley had done was really an incredibly stupid thing. Trust meant everything in this family, and she'd betrayed Nick's trust when she lied to him about where she was going and didn't answer her cell phone. Though she hated to admit it, he was even right about her friend Cody. Riley knew that if she'd still been living with her mother, she would've let her get away with it. Heck, she probably would've even had sex with him by now, because her mother provided close to no supervision. Nick made Riley expect more of herself, and more out of her life. She'd been offered a chance for a spot in one of the top schools in Las Vegas, and knew that nothing like that ever would've happened with her mother as a role model. It was all starting to make sense, and Riley was feeling horrible for giving Nick such a hard time.

Sara moved her head to look up at Nick from her reclined position with an expression that could only be described as motherly. "I think we ought to get her to bed, don't you think?" She whispered to him. When he nodded she looked back down at Carly and tucked a piece of stray hair behind her ear. Sara kissed her hair and then gently extracted herself from behind her daughter as Nick stood up also. He himself was quite tired, but he picked Carly up in his arms, her body lifeless and her mouth opened. Sara turned to Riley as Nick carried their daughter away and smiled.

"We're gonna go to bed, Riley. It's been a long day." She walked over to the teen and bent down to press a kiss to her head also, then gently stroked her hair. "Thanks for your help today. I don't know when we would've found Carly without you."

Riley smiled weakly and nodded her head. "No problem."

"You going to bed soon too?"

"Yeah. I'm gonna go say goodnight to Dad."

Riley rose from her seat and they both began to climb the stairs, their eyes tired, and their mouths both yawning. Sara disappeared into the master bedroom to brush her teeth and get into her pajamas, and Riley felt herself wandering to her little sister's door. She watched curiously as he tucked her under the comforter and sat down on the edge of the bed. Carly seemed to have stirred a little and woken up, but Riley could hear her voice was croaky and fuzzy. Their father whispered something to her, then leaned down and kissed her sweetly on the forehead. He treated Carly, and all of them, with such tenderness and care. How could she ever have hated such a wonderful man?

As Nick stood up from his daughter's bed, he found his oldest watching him from the doorway, leaning against the frame. He smiled at her softly and gave her arm a squeeze as he stepped out, closing the door behind him. Nick figured she'd just come up to say goodnight, but was surprised to see tears in Riley's eyes. Before he got a chance to question her why, she'd thrown her arms around his neck in perhaps the tightest hug ever. Nick closed his arms around her also, not knowing quite why she'd suddenly pounced on him, but a hug was always nice. She was crying.

"Sweetheart, why are you crying?" He gently asked as she sobbed into his shirt collar.

"Daddy, I'm sorry I've been so horrible lately. I know you're trying to look out for me and I didn't understand, but now I do." Her voice was teary, but she had to get out what she wanted to say. "And I've been so awful, and I'm sorry Daddy…"

"Ssshhhh…." Nick was surprised, but he smiled and hugged her a little tighter. He didn't expect her to understand just yet, but he suspected what had happened with Carly today had something to do with this. Riley had been part of the nightmare of realizing Carly was missing; that she'd broken the rules and put her life in jeopardy by doing so. "I'm glad you realize I'm just trying to keep you safe."

She was still clinging to him and showed no sign of letting go. "And I know that if I still lived with Mom I wouldn't be doing as well at school because you pushed me to take the harder classes even when I wanted to be lazy, and you make me do my homework and Mom never did and…"

"Darlin', it's okay." He cut her off, somewhat amused that all this was spilling out. He had no idea she had these feelings inside her, and it was kind of nice to have her validate the way he was raising her. It wasn't every day a kid thanked her father for being tough on her. "I know it's not easy being a teenager. I just want you to do the best you can do, and keep safe."

Riley choked on her tears a bit and nodded as Nick placed his hands on either side of her head and pulled her back to see her face. He didn't think he'd ever seen her look so sincerely sorry, and strangely it was a big relief. Many days, it seemed the common sense he was trying to teach her went in one ear and out the other, and he was never getting through. Perhaps seeing a real-life example of why he was so protective finally got through to her. With his thumbs, he wiped away some of her tears. "You make me so proud." Nick whispered to her. "And I love you so much."

"I love you too Dad." She replied weakly and leaned in for another hug. Riley knew she was really so blessed to have two caring parents, ones that regularly told her that they loved her. While they both knew there would be more disagreements in the future, it was nice to have this moment between father and daughter. At least, Riley seemed to understand or at least consider where he was coming from.

"Let's get you to bed." He kissed her forehead before releasing her from the hug, and draped one arm around her shoulders. "I'll tuck you in."

They walked down the stairs together, and Riley wiped at her eyes a bit. Nick guided her into her room and pulled her covers back for her. Once he'd pulled them up, he handed her a couple tissues from her bedside table to wipe the remaining tears from her eyes, and in case she started crying again. He sat down on the edge of bed and rubbed her arm as she settled in.

"So, next time you're in trouble, can I use this conversation against you?" He joked, trying to lighten up the mood a little bit. Riley grinned at him and closed her eyes, shaking her head. He chuckled at her response and adjusted the covers again so she was nice and snug. "I'm kidding. I'll see you in the morning. Love you."

Riley wished him the same, and after a kiss to the cheek, he rose and walked to the door. He shut the light off, feeling the best he had about his relationship with Riley in a long time.

CSI CSI CSI CSI CSI

The general atmosphere in the Stokes household was much calmer over the next month or so with Carly's bullying problem solved, and Riley finally getting over her loss of her birthday party. She had also been much more agreeable and cooperative with her parents, less apt to challenge them when she was told no. Because of her good attitude, Nick decided to let Riley have a small get-together at their house for her birthday, just a sleepover with three friends, but it had been a wonderful reward.

The SAT's hadn't been as awful as Riley had anticipated. Sure, she'd had to wake up early on a Saturday and suffer through tons of questions, but by the end of the test, Riley felt she'd done reasonably well. When her results came in the mail a couple months later, she was pleased to see she'd received a 1980 on the test, well above the minimal requirement for Butterfield. However, it wouldn't be official that she got in until Butterfield sent her a letter. The College Board would send Butterfield a copy of the scores, and within a few days, the notification should come in the mail. The days dragged on slowly, as each day, Riley made the trip out to the family's mailbox, hoping to find a letter addressed to her. So far, for an entire two weeks after getting her score, she'd returned with only bills, catalogs, and magazines.

Finally, on a Monday afternoon, Riley took her daily trip to the mailbox to find the item she'd been waiting for. She sighed, standing by the mailbox, staring down at the letter addressed to "Riley M. Groves" from Butterfield Academy. She lifted it and let the envelope bend up and down between her fingers for a few moments, feeling the weight of it. There was no telling if it was good news or bad news from feeling it alone. Riley knew she would have to open it and find out for herself. She'd been waiting in anticipation all this time, and when the moment had finally come, Riley felt terrified. It felt like her whole life was riding on this letter. Her fingers trembling, she dropped the rest of the mail on the sidewalk and began ripping open the only envelope she cared about. Quickly, she unfolded the letter and skimmed over the contents. Riley swallowed, closed her eyes, and folded the paper back up. Gathering up the contents she had dropped on the sidewalk, she headed inside to find her parents and tell them the news.

Nick and Sara were quietly talking about what had gone on in each of their days in the kitchen, cooking dinner, when they sensed Riley walked into the room. Both looked over at the time, stopping their conversation when they saw the confused look on her face. She was holding a single piece of paper in one hand, a stack of envelopes in the other.

"Did you get the mail?" Sara prompted her, the wooden spoon she'd been stirring the vegetables with stopped mid-stroke.

"Uh-huh." She swallowed, her mouth feeling suddenly dry, as she looked at the lettering on the paper again.

"And?" Nick prompted her further.

"My letter from Butterfield came." She kept her eyes on the paper, and knew her parents were hanging on in anticipation. "I got in."

Riley heard an audible gasp of excitement from both her parents, and she let a smile creep to her lips. She looked up as they both came over and enclosed her in a warm, congratulatory hug.

"Congratulations, sweetheart." Nick told his daughter, so proud that she had actually gotten in. He knew how hard it had been to get Riley turned around from the lazy student she'd been to the straight-A honor student she was today. She'd worked hard, and he was glad that things were working out so well for her. However, Riley pulled away from them, and looked downright nervous and in a dilemma.

"I…I don't know if I wanna go there after all." She confessed, folding the paper back up neatly, setting it on the kitchen counter for safe keeping.

"What do you mean, sweetie?" Sara rubbed her arm, confused at her change of heart. "You worked so hard to get in."

"Yeah, I know." She stammered a bit, and swallowed uncomfortably. "I just…I'm not sure if it's what I really want anymore."

Both her parents studied her for a few moments silently, trying to figure out where these feelings had suddenly come from. The past two weeks, all her mind had been on was getting this letter from Butterfield. Her hopes had been riding high that she would get in, and it seemed that's what she'd wanted. Never once had she even expressed uncertainty before.

Sara stepped forward and cleared her throat, putting her hand on Riley's shoulder. "Come on. Let's go talk."

Riley looked at her father, who looked concerned, but he nodded that she should go with Sara. She was lead by hand back to her own bedroom, where Sara closed the door. They both sat on her bed, and Riley let her stepmother take the lead. The teenager felt stupid, having gone on and on for months about Butterfield, and now that her acceptance had come, she was having second thoughts. Her stepmother must think she was a real schmuck. Sara put her hand on Riley's knee and squeezed gently.

"Riley, I can tell you're nervous about getting accepted to Butterfield." She began, her tone patient and understanding. "It would be a big step, wouldn't it? Having to move schools again and make new friends. Is that what you're nervous about?"

Riley sniffled and rubbed a hand over her face tiredly. Truthfully, she wasn't quite sure why she had all of a sudden got the jitters about going to Butterfield. She'd weighed all the pros and cons before this; debated whether she wanted to start at a new school and have to make new friends; to basically be a freshman again, wandering the halls lost on the first day of school. Riley had known all this would happen, and she'd been okay with all of it until now.

"I don't know. I thought I was okay with all that. But I –" She paused and shook her head, fiddling with the hem of her shirt uncomfortably. "I don't know if it's where I belong. Everyone's so serious about school there. I mean, school's important to me, but I don't know if I can handle how hard it is."

Sara nodded in understanding. Butterfield was definitely known to be rigorous and very challenging. She knew for a fact, having talked to Catherine, that Riley would be kept busy. The reigns were tight, and the teachers were strict, but also friendly. It would be a big change from what Riley was used to, but it would be a good change. Nick and Sara had to admit that they were excited about how much homework she'd be getting. With the workload, Riley wouldn't really have time to think about getting into trouble. She'd have more chances to earn college credit, which would save them money in the long run. Overall, they just wanted her to be happy.

"Well, Butterfield will be challenging, no doubt about that." She agreed with Riley. "But, remember when you first moved in with us, when you were in all the average classes?"

Riley nodded, remembering how she used to float through school in the easy classes, not challenged at all, getting close to straight A pluses. When she moved in with Nick and Sara, they decided to put her in advanced classes. She'd hated the idea at first, having to actually put forth effort in school and spend more than a half hour on homework a night. However, once she'd actually gotten into the classes, it had been quite rewarding to work hard and get good grades.

"Well, going to Butterfield will kind of be like that. It's scary to think about how different the workload will be, and the teachers, and the students. But once you get there, I bet you'll enjoy it. It'll be a new challenge, and challenges can be fun."

"Yeah." Riley agreed weakly. It all made sense as Sara explained it, but she wasn't the one having to move into a new school that was known to be psychotically challenging. Well, she had gone to Harvard, but that was different. It wasn't high school. The kids always already had their own cliques, not sure if they wanted to let one more in, and for at least a year, you were known as 'the new kid'. It was tough starting over.

"It's okay to be nervous. But, Riley, don't give up on your dream because you're a little scared. You're so brave and strong, and I know for a fact you can handle this." She told Riley honestly. Sara had been so impressed over the years with how well Riley handled stress. The kid had been through so much, but still she managed to have a positive outlook on life. Already, she was so independent and confident that it left Nick and Sara in awe at times.

The door opened, and little Nolan poked his head inside. "It's dinner tiiiime!" He announced with a childish grin on his face. Sara smirked and crouched like she was about to hunt, then dashed across the room to scoop up her cackling son.

"We need to teach you some manners, little guy." Sara joked, holding him up high in her arms. "You're supposed to knock."

"Sorry, Mommy." His mother brought him down to rest on her hip, as she turned back to Riley.

"It's okay. Come on, Ry, let's go get some dinner."

She rose and followed her stepmother out to the kitchen area, where her father was dishing the dinner out onto plates. Riley walked up to him and wrapped her arms around his middle from the side, sighing as she rested her head against his shoulder.

"Did you make a decision?" He asked as he deposited a generous supply of green beans onto each plate. Riley was silent for a few moments as she sighed in thought.

"I don't know. I've been thinking…I wonder if my mom would even still recognize me now." Nick put down the saucepan on the counter to give his full attention to his daughter, turning around to lean back against it as she continued. "I mean, when I was living with her, I was probably the most ornery, mouthy little hellion you'd ever meet. I didn't care about school. And now I'm accepted to a place like Butterfield?"

Nick chuckled a little. It was true that at first, she'd been pretty disrespectful and lazy, which wasn't something he was so willing to put up with. Their relationship had been kind of awful at first. She hated him for having to be so strict with her, for making her work hard at school, and cleaning up her general attitude, but in the end it had made her so much better, and Riley knew it. She was becoming so much more than she ever could have been being raised by her mother. Not that she hated her mother – that was far from the truth. She guessed she just respected Nick more, and his whole way of life. She loved her mother, but she wasn't that great of a role model, and her father was like a damn saint. He seemed to always know the right thing to do and the right thing to say. She felt herself wanting to please him and make him proud, and knew that going to Butterfield and getting the best education possible would make him so happy. And she knew, once she got into it, she would be happy there too. She just needed the guts to do it.

"Well, I didn't know your mom that well, but I know she'd be so proud of the way you're turning out. You're gonna have so many more opportunities than she did with that kind of education. College is in your reach; a good job. Stuff she never had."

"Yeah. I have a better chance." Riley realized perhaps the best way to honor her mother, despite all the mistakes she had made, was to be successful in her life. She would have more choices, and a better life, if she concentrated on school and went on to college.

Later that evening, when Carly and Nolan had already been put to sleep, Riley sat on her bed in her pj's, reading her letter from Butterfield over and over again. They wanted her. They actually wanted her. She couldn't get over how special she felt because of that. Riley almost didn't notice her bedroom door open, and Nick and Sara come inside, about to hit the sack as well. When her father cleared his throat she looked up with a grin on her face.

"Sorry." She smiled, placing the letter on her bedside table. "I just can't get over it. Next year, I'm gonna be going to the best high school in Vegas."

Her parents, standing at the edge of her bed, smiled at her oozing. "So, is that a definite yes?" Sara asked her.

Riley bit her lip for a moment and then shook her head affirmatively. "Yes. I'm gonna go."

She was enveloped in a double-hug and tons of kisses from both her parents. It was going to be a bit scary, but she would always have Nick and Sara to support her when she was having trouble. Riley knew they wouldn't let her get in over her head. They believed in her and knew their daughter would do well at Butterfield, even when she hadn't.

"That's such good news, baby." Nick told her as they both pulled away from the hug. "I know you're gonna do so well."

"Yeah. I think I will." She agreed confidently.

"Good girl." Nick kissed her forehead and then looked at his wristwatch. "Do you think you can get to sleep with all this excitement?"

"Yeah. I'm actually pretty tired, and I have a big test in algebra tomorrow."

Nick and Sara helped tuck their daughter under the covers snugly. She was a little old to be tucked in, but Riley still enjoyed it. For twelve years, she'd missed out on her dad tucking her in, so it was kind of like making up for lost time.

After they'd shut off the lights, and as Riley lay there, the moonlight shining through her window, she couldn't recall a time she had felt so hopeful; so excited about her future. Her life was practically unrecognizable from what it had been three years ago, and she knew it was for the better. That night, she fell asleep with a smile on her face, dreaming about tomorrow.

_A/N: The ending is a little lame, haha! I suck at endings. Please press the little purplish button!_


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